law for the election of such officers in other counties in this State, and shall be placed on equal footing, and possess equal powers and privileges in all respects with other counties in this State: Provided, nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to deprive said counties of Bradley and M'Minn from having and exercising jurisdiction, as heretofore, over the territory included within the bounds of said county of Polk until the organization thereof as provided. in this act: and provided further, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the sheriffs of M'Minn and Bradley counties from levying within said county of Polk, so taken from either county respectively, for taxes that may be due them, and selling for the same; and provided, the courts of M'Minn and Bradley counties shall, as heretofore, have power and authority to enter up judgments and condemn lands to sale within the limits of Polk county aforesaid for any taxes that may be due on the same to said sheriffs of M'Minn and Bradley respectively. for holding elec SEC. 5. Be it enacted, That John Towns, Jonas Hoyl, Commissioner James Hawkins, Andrew Stevenson, Erbey Boyd, John tions. Williams, Allen Armstong, Thomas Harper and John F. Hannah be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, a majority of whom shall have authority to act, who shall, on the first Saturday of February, 1840, first giving twenty days notice at four of the most public places in the said county of Polk, open and hold an election for the purpose of fixing upon a suitable site for the county seat of said county; all those residing within the bounds of said county, who are entitled to vote for members of the General As sembly, shall be entitled to vote in selecting said site, and said election shall be held at seven several places, to be designated in said county, for the convenience of voters, by said commissioners in the notice of the election herein required to be given; and it shall be the duty of the commissioners to select and put in nomination, to be voted for, two of the most eligible sites in their estimation for such county seat in said county, and the place receiving a majority of all the votes taken shall be, and the same is hereby established the county seat of said county of Polk, and said commissioners are hereby authorized to appoint suitable persons, and to administer to them the proper oaths, as officers and judges, to open and hold the election at the several places that may be be appointed to vote, and to make return of the polls to the town of Columbus, where they shall be compared on the Monday next succeeding the day of election. SEC. 6. Be it enacted, That said commissioners are here- Commissioners by authorized to purchase or otherwise procure a sufficient to purchase land quantity of land, upon which to lay off a town, and to erect all necessary public buildings for said county, at the place County seat, selected by the qualified voters as aforesaid, and the commissioners shall take, to themselves as commissioners of the county of Polk, and their successors in office, a deed or deeds of conveyance, with general warranty, for the lands by them so purchased or otherwise obtained. SEC, 7. Be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the commissioners herein appointed to cause a town to be laid off at said county seat into lots, streets and alleys, of such size and width as they may deem necessary and proper, reserving a sufficient quantity of land for a public square and for the public buildings, and when so laid off the town shall be called and known by the name of Benton, in honor of the Honorable Thomas H. Benton, a Senator in the Congress of the United States. SEC. 8. Be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Lots, how sold. commissioners of said county of Polk to sell all the lots in said town of Benton upon a credit of twelve months, after first giving thirty days notice of the time and terms of said sale in one newspaper at Athens, and one in Knoxville; and the commissioners shall take bond, with sufficient security, from the purchasers of said lots, payable to themselves as commissioners as aforesaid, and their successors in office, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to make to the purchasers of said lots titles in fee simple for the same. SEC. 9. Be it enacted, That the proceeds of the sales of Proceeds of sales the lots aforesaid shall be a fund in the hands of said commissioners to defray the expenses incurred in the purchase of the lands upon which said town may be located, and also the expenses of erecting the public buildings of said county. SEC. 10. Be it enacted, That said commissioners shall superintend the erection of the court-house and jail, and Court-house, other necessary public buildings in said county; and they jail, &c. are hereby authorized and empowered to let out and make contracts for the erection of such public buildings as shall he ordered by the county court of said county, a majority of said justices being present, and upon such terms and conditions as said court, a majority being present, shall direct; and the commissioners aforesaid shall take bond, with sufficient security, from the contractor or contractors, in such penalties as said court shall prescribe, payable to themselves as commissioners of the county of Polk as aforesaid, and their successors in office, conditioned for the faithful performance of such contract or contracts as the case may be. to report. SEC. 11. Be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners commissioners to report all proceedings by them had under this act to the first county court of said county of Polk, to be holden therein after the first day of September next, and it shall be the duty of said court to enter the same upon their records. missioners. SEC. 12. Be it enacted, That said commissioners, before Bonds of comthey enter upon the duties of their office, shall take an oath before some judge or justice of the peace, to honestly and faithfully perform the duties assigned them by this act, to the best of their judgment, and they shall moreover enter into bond, with approved security, in the penalty of five thousand dollars, payable to the chairman of the county court of Polk county, and his successors in office, conditioned for the due and faithful performance of the duties enjoined upon them by this act, and for the just application or forthcoming of such funds as shall come to their hands as commissioners aforesaid. SEC. 13. Be it enacted, That said commissioners shall Their duty. keep a regular and fair statement and account of all monies by them received and expended, which statement shall, from time to time, when required by the county court of Polk county, be laid before said court, and when the public buildings of said county shall be completed, said commissioners shall, by order of said court, pay over any surplus money that may be in their hands, to the county trustee of said county, for county purposes, and they shall be allowed for their services such reasonable compensation as shall be adjudged them by said county court. SEC. 14. Be it enacted, That should any vacancy hap- Vacancies in board. pen in the board of commissioners hereby appointed, by death, resignation, or refusal to act, of any one or more of said commissioners, the county court of said county, a majority of the justices being present, is hereby authorized, from time to time, to fill such vacancy by appointing another, who shall take a similar oath and enter into a similar bond to that herein prescribed for the other commissioners. SEC. 15. Be it enacted, That Abram Lillard, James Civil districts. M'Kamy, William Shields, Samuel Parks, John S. O'Neal, Wells and Jacob Moore, or a majority of them, shall have power and authority, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to lay off said county into seven civil districts, in which there shall be elected justices of the peace and constables at the time prescribed by law for electing such officers in other counties in this State. the SEC. 16. Be it enacted, That David Ragan is hereby Election of civil authorized and empowered to open and hold an election in officers. each civil district in said county of Polk for sheriff, county and circuit court clerks, county trustee, county register, and other county officers authorized by the constitution to be elected by the people, on the same day prescribed by law for the election of such officers in other counties; and before he enters upon the duties of his appointment, he shall take an oath faithfully and honestly to perform the duties herein enjoined upon him, and he is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint as many deputies as may be necessary Commissioners lands. to assist him in holding said election, the polls of which shall be compared at the town of Columbus. SEC. 17. Be it enacted, [That] the commissioners of the to enter two gr. county of Polk be, and they are hereby authorized, at any sect'ns of Ocoee time after the passage of this act, to select two quarter sections of land in said county of Polk, which may be vacant and unappropriated, and to which there may be no bona fide occupant claimant or claimants, and said commissioners shall notify the entry taker of the Ocoee district of such selection, and it shall be the duty of said entry taker to mark such quarter sections upon his general plan, as selected by said commissioners, and said quarters shall not thereafter be subject to the entry of any other person or persons, but said commissioners may, at any time before the first day of August, 1841, enter said quarter sections in said entry office in their names, as commissioners of the county of Polk, upon paying to the entry taker at the time of such entry twenty-five cents per acre for land so entered; and it shall be the duty of the register of the Ocoee district, upon such entry, to issue to said commissioners, and their successors in office, a grant or grants for said lands, which lands the commissioners aforesaid are hereby authorized to dispose of or appropriate in such manner as they may deem most advisable for the purpose of aiding in making the public buildings in said county. Dividing lines SEC. 18. Be it enacted, That James M'Kamy be, and he is hereby appointed, to run and mark the lines in this act designated dividing the counties of Bradley and M'Minn from the county of Polk, and he shall receive for his services such compensation as shall be allowed him by the county court of Polk, to be paid him by the commissioners of said county, out of any monies that may be in their hands belonging to said county of Polk. JONAS E. THOMAS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Passed November 28th, 1839.] Speaker of the Senate, CHAPTER XI. An Act to amend the act of 1827, chapter 30th, entitled an act in relation to the change of venue in criminal causes. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Change of venue State of Tennessee, That when any criminal case shall be pending before any of the courts, and the judge presiding shall, upon an attempt to select and empannel a jury for the trial of said criminal or criminals, be of opinion that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the cause is then pending, the said judge shall and may order the venue of said cause to be changed to the nearest county, free from the like exceptions, within the district; Provided, that nothing in this act contained shall deprive the prisoner of the right to a continuance for the causes specified in the said act of 1827, chapter 30th. Clerk of the SEC. 2. Be it enacted, That when the venue of any criminal cause shall under this act be changed, it shall be court. the duty of the clerk of the court changing the venue to make out a full and complete transcript of the record and proceedings in said cause, and transmit the same to the clerk of the court to which said venue is changed, which said transcript shall be entered in full upon the minutes of said court. SEC. 3. Be it enacted, That upon the change of venue Judge to remove as provided in this act, if the crime charged be not bailable, prisoners. or if bailable and the prisoner cannot give bail, the judge shall and may order the removal of the prisoner to the jail of the county whither said venue is changed; Provided said jail be insufficient, the court may order the confinement of said prisoners in any other sufficient jail nearest to the county into which said cause is to be tried by the change of venue. SEC. 4. Be it enacted, That each judicial circuit is hereby declared and made districts for the trial of criminal causes. SEC. 5. Be it enacted, That so much of the act of 1827, Act of 1827. chapter 30, which this act is intended to amend, and is repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed. SEC. 6. Be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the court changing the venue to take the recognizance of the prosecutor, the witnesses in behalf of the State, and the prisoner, to appear at the trial of the cause in the court to which the venue is changed, and also to take the recognizance of the witnesses in behalf of the prisoners; Provided, that in all cases where it shall become necessary under the provisions of this act to change the venue, the defendant shall have the privilege to choose and elect to which county in the district or circuit his cause shall be changed for trial; provided, should the criminal decline or refuse to make such election, then the court shall determine to what county the cause shall be removed for trial. JONAS E. THOMAS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Passed November 28th, 1839.] Speaker of the Senates Duty of the court. |