2 March 1855 2 1. 10 Stat. 631. Circuit court established. Jurisdiction II. CIRCUIT COURT. 4. A judicial circuit shall be, and the same is hereby constituted, in and for the state of California, to be known as the Circuit Court of the United States for the districts of California, a term of which court shall be held annually, in the city of San Francisco, on the first Monday of July in each and every year; (a) and for this purpose a judge shall be appointed, and the court hereby organized shall, in all things, have and exercise the same original jurisdiction as is vested in the several circuit courts of the United States, as organized under existing laws, and shall also have and exercise the same appellate jurisdiction over the district courts of the United States for the northern and southern districts of California, as by existing laws is vested in the several circuit courts of the United States over the district courts of the United States in their respective circuits; Clerk and deputy and the said judge shall appoint a clerk, who shall have the power to appoint a deputy, to be appointed. which clerk shall reside, and keep the records of the court, in the said city of San Francisco, and shall receive for the services he may perform double the fees allowed to the clerk of the southern district of New York. Fees. ? 2. Special terms. Notice. Marshal. Appeals to the supreme court. Ibid. 2 3. Ibid. 4. 5. Said judge shall have power to order and hold such special or extra terms of said court as he may deem expedient, and at such time or times as he shall, by his order, under his hand and seal, direct, addressed to the marshal and clerk of said court, at least thirty days previous to the commencement of such special or extra term or terms, which order shall be published immediately in two or more of the gazettes of the state of California; and at any and all of such special terms the business of said court shall have reference to the immediately preceding regular or special term, and be proceeded with in the same manner; and such proceedings shall be, to all intents and purposes, as valid as if the same had taken place at a regular term of said court; all which terms shall be held at such place, in the said city of San Francisco, as the marshal of the United States for the northern district of California, whose duty it shall be to act as the marshal of said court, shall procure for the purpose, under the directions of said judge; and appeals from the proceedings of the court organized under this act shall be taken to the supreme court of the United States, in the same manner, and on the same conditions, as appeals are taken under existing laws from the other circuit courts of the United States. 6. The judge of said court shall have the same power to issue writs of habeas corpus and other writs as is vested by law in the other judges of the United States. 7. In case the judge of said court shall fail to attend at the time and place of holding In absence of the any regular or special term of said court, before the close of the fourth day after the commencement of such term, the business pending before said court, shall stand adjourned until the next regular term of said court, or until the next special term of the court, should one be ordered under the authority of this act previous to such regular judge court to stand adjourned. Ibid. 25. District courts term. 8. The district courts of the United States for the northern and southern districts of California, shall hereafter exercise only the ordinary duties and powers of the district not to have cir- courts of the United States, (b) except the special jurisdiction vested in the said district cuit court jurisdiction. courts of California over the decisions of the board of commissioners for the settlement of private land claims in California under existing laws; (c) and that appeals from the judgments, orders and decrees of either of said district courts of California, in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction, shall be taken to the circuit court organized by this Appeals to circuit act, in the same manner and upon the same conditions as appeals may be taken from the judgments, orders or decrees of the district courts to the circuit courts of the United States. (d) Special jurisdiction in land claims. court. Ibid. 26. Circuit judge to sit in district courts in cases of land claims. Clerks to give notice. 9. The judge appointed under this act shall, from time to time, or at any time when in his opinion the business of his own court will permit, and that of the courts of the northern and southern districts of California shall require, form part of, and preside over, the said district courts when either of them is engaged in the discharge of the appellate jurisdiction vested in it over the decisions of the board of commissioners for the settlement of private land claims in the state of California, under the act of congress entitled "An act to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the state of California," passed March 3d 1851, (e) and by another act entitled “An act making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of the government for the year ending 30th of June 1853, and for other purposes," passed 31st of August 1852; (g) and it shall be the duty of the clerks of the respective district courts of California to give thirty days' written notice to the judge of the court organized under this act, of the time and place of the sitting of such district court for the discharge of such appellate jurisdiction; and in case the judge of such district court shall fail, from sickness or other casualty, to attend at such time and 2 March 1855. place, the judge of the court organized under this act, is hereby authorized to hold said May hold court court, and proceed with the business of the court, in accordance with the provisions in absence of district judge. prescribed for the regulation of said district court in the act of congress herein before referred to; and all appeals to the supreme court of the United States from the decisions Appeals. of said district court, whether held by the last-mentioned judge, or by him in conjunction with the district judge, or by the district judge alone, shall be taken in the manner prescribed by the act of congress passed on the 3d day of March 1851, entitled "An act to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the state of California."(a) 10. The salary of the judge appointed under this act shall be four thousand five hundred dollars per annum, to commence from the date of his appointment.(b) Ioid. 27. court. 11. The circuit court of the United States for the districts of California shall hereafter 23 April 1856 ? 1. 11 Stat. 6. hold four regular sessions in each year, two of which, beginning respectively on the first Monday in January and July, shall be held at San Francisco, in and for the northern Terms. district of California; and the other two, beginning respectively on the first Monday of March and September, shall be held at Los Angelos, in the southern district of California; and the circuit judge of California shall have the same powers in relation to his Powers of the attendance on said sessions and the arrangement of business thereat as are vested in the other circuit judges of the United States by the second section of the act approved the 17th of June 1844, (c) entitled "An act concerning the supreme court of the United States:" Provided, That the term of said court herein provided to be held at San Francisco on the first Monday in January next, may be held in advance of that time under order of the said circuit judge upon notice previously given in conformity with the second section of the act of which this act is amendatory. Ibid. ? 2. circuit and dis 12. The said circuit court shall be presided over by the judge of the circuit court of the United States for the districts of California, and by the judge of the district court To be holden by for the district in which the court is holden, either of whom shall constitute a quorum; trict judges. and the said circuit court and the said circuit judge, and each of the said district judges Either to be a within his separate district, when sitting as circuit judge, shall be, and they are hereby, quorum. respectively vested with all the authority, powers and jurisdiction which are vested by existing laws in the several circuit courts of the United States, or the judges thereof. And all laws or parts of laws, which now are or may hereafter be enacted, regulating the jurisdiction, process and practice of the circuit courts of the United States, shall be, and the same are hereby, made applicable to the said circuit court for each of said districts of California. And the marshal of the United States for each district of California Marshals. shall act as marshal of said circuit court for his district, and shall attend not only the regular sessions of said courts, but such special or extra terms as may be held in either district, which the said circuit judge is hereby authorized to order in conformity to the mode directed by the second section of the act of which this act is amendatory. Ibid. 2 3. 13. The clerk of the said circuit court of the United States for the districts of California shall keep the records of said court in the city of San Francisco, and he is hereby clerk to keep anthorized to appoint a deputy or deputies, whose official acts, signatures, attestations records. and certificates shall be entitled to as full credit as those of the said clerk. Deputies. Ibid. 24. 14. All suits or causes instituted in the district courts of California prior to the first Monday of July 1855, and which remain pending in either of said courts, or in which Transfer of pend final process has not been executed, and which are properly within the jurisdiction of ing causes. circuit courts, and not of district courts of the United States, shall be removed for the district in which the cause is pending by a transfer and delivery to the clerk of the said circuit court of the original papers with an exemplification of the record or docket entries under the seal of the district court, for which exemplification the clerk of the said district court shall receive the same fees as are allowed for similar services in making transcripts for appeals or writs of error, to be paid by the party applying for the same, and taxed as costs on final judgment; and all causes now pending in said circuit court of the United States, against parties residing in the southern district of California, shall, on application of the parties defendant, made within three months from the date when this act shall take effect, be removed in like manner to the said circuit court held in the southern district of California, and all such causes shall take rank on the docket according to the date of removal; and all suits removed under the provisions of this section shall be proceeded in, and conducted in the same manner as if originally instituted in the court to which they may be removed. III. DISTRICT COURTS. 15. The said state shall compose two districts, to be called the northern and southern 28 Sept. 1850 ₫ 2 districts of California, divided by the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude. And for 9 Stat. 521. (a) Infra, 43. (c) See tit. "Circuit Courts." (b) Increased to $6000, by act 3 March 1857. 11 Stat. 217. 28 Sept. 1850. the purpose of trying all issues of fact triable by a jury in said districts, a district court Divided into two shall be held in said districts, to consist of one judge, who shall reside within the district districts. Jurisdiction. Clerk. Fees. Ibid. 23. Extra sessions. Ibid. 24. ern district. to which he is appointed, and be called a district judge, and shall in all things have and exercise the same jurisdiction and powers which were by law given to the judge of the southern district of New York; the said judge shall appoint a clerk at the place at which a court is holden within the district, who shall reside and keep the records of the court at the place of holding the same; and shall receive for the services they may perform, for the first four years after the passage of this act, double the amount allowed to the clerk of the southern district of New York; and thereafter shall receive only the fees (a) allowed to the clerk of the said southern district of New York, and may appoint a deputy. 16. The judges of the districts of California shall hold extra sessions at any time when the public interest may in their opinion require the same. 17. The judge of the northern district of California shall hold two regular sessions Terms of north annually at San Francisco, [and one regular session annually at San Jose, Sacramento, and Stockton,] at the times following, to wit: at San Francisco, on the first Mondays of December and June; [at San Jose, on the first Monday in April; at Sacramento, on the first Monday in September; and at Stockton, on the second Monday in October.] (b) 18. The judge of the southern district of California shall hold one regular session Terms of south-annually at the following places, to wit: at Monterey, on the first Monday in June; and at Los Angelos, on the first Monday in December. Ibid. 25. eru district. Ibid. 26. In absence of the judge, court to Special terms. 19. Should the judges of either of the said district courts fail to attend at the time and place of holding any one of the regular terms of the court, for either of said districts, before the close of the fourth day of any such term, the business pending in such court Band adjourned. shall stand adjourned to the next regular term thereof: Provided, That whenever the judge of either of said courts, from any cause, shall fail to hold a regular term of said court, it shall be his duty, if, in his opinion, the business in said court shall require, to hold an intermediate term of said court at such time as he shall, by his order, under his hand and seal, direct, addressed to the clerk and marshal of said court at least thirty days previous to the commencement of said term, and to be published in the several newspapers published in the bounds of said district the same length of time; and at any and all such intermediate terms, the business of any such courts, of every nature and description whatsoever, shall have reference to, and be proceeded with, in the same manner, as if the same were a regular term of said court. Notice. Ibid. 3 8. District attorneys. Fees. Ibid. 29. Marshals. Fees. Deputies. 10 Stat. 265. abolished. 20. There shall be appointed, in each of said districts, a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States, who shall, in addition to his fees of office, which, for the first four years after the passage of this act, shall be double those of the southern district of New York; and thereafter he shall be entitled to receive the same fees as the attorney of the said southern district of New York, and a salary of five hundred dollars annually as a full compensation for all extra services.(c) 21. A marshal shall be appointed in each of said districts, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to receive, for the first four years after the passage of this act, double the amount of fees which are prescribed to marshals in the southern district of New York, and thereafter he shall be entitled to receive the fees of the marshal of the said southern district of New York, and shall moreover be entitled to the sum of five hundred dollars annually, as a compensa. tion for all extra services; (d) and the said marshal shall have the right to appoint as many deputies as the duties of his office shall require. 18 Jan. 1854 1. 22. There shall be appointed by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, a district judge for the southern judicial district heretoJudge to be ap- fore established in the state of California; and that the sessions of the district court at pointed for the southern district. San Jose, Stockton and Sacramento, are hereby abolished. And in case of the sickness, Certain sessions or other inability, of the district judge for the southern district of California to hold the terms of the district court at the places prescribed by law, or at either of them, it shall be lawful for the district judge of the northern district of California to hold the said In case of inabili- sessions of the district court for the southern district, or any of them. And in case the to af end, the district judge for the northern judicial district of California shall, from sickness or other other may hold cause, be unable to hold the sessions of the district court for the northern district of California at the times and places appointed by law, or either of them, it shall and may be lawful for the district judge for the southern district of California to hold said sessions of the district court for the northern district of California, or any or either of them. attend, his court. (a) See the general fee bill of 26 February 1853. 10 Stat. 161. (b) Sessions at San Jose, Sacramento, and Stockton, abolished, by act 18 January 1854; infra, 22. (c) See the general fee-bill of 1853, whereby all extra compensation is abolished. (d) See supra, note (c). IV. LANDS. ral. 10 Stat. 244. 23. The surveyor-general for the district or state of California, who is now or may 3 March 1853 2 1 hereafter be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall keep his office at such place as the president, in view of the public convenience, Surveyor-geneshall from time to time direct; and the surveyor-general, if he has not already done so, where office to and his successors in office, before entering upon duty, shall take and subscribe an oath be kept. or affirmation, before a judge of a United States court, or other competent officer, to Oath of office. support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, and give bond in the same amount as other surveyors-general, the penalty thereof Bond. to be increased whenever the secretary of the interior shall deem proper. He shall be entitled to receive a salary at the rate of four thousand five hundred dollars per annum, Salary. payable quarter-yearly, to commence from the time of entering into bond. 24. There shall be allowed for clerk hire in the office of the surveyor-general the sum Ibid. 2. of eleven thousand dollars per annum, or so much thereof as may be necessary: Provided, Allowance for That the salary of no clerk shall exceed the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars per annum; clerk hire. and for office rent, fuel and other incidental expenses of his office, such sums as shall be Salaries. found necessary by the secretary of the interior, not exceeding the sum of ten thousand dollars. And the secretary of the interior is hereby authorized to cause an official seal Seal of office. to be prepared for the office of the said surveyor-general; and any copy of or extracts Copies of official from the plats, field-notes and other records and documents on file in his office, when papers, &c., to be attested as such, by the said seal and the signature of the surveyor-general, shall, in all judicial matters, have the same force and effect as the originals. evidence. Ibid. 23. 25. The said surveyor general shall have the same power and authority, and perform the same duties respecting the public lands and private claims in the state of California, His powers and as by law appertain to and are required of the surveyor-general in Louisiana, except so duties. far as the same may be modified by this act. He shall engage a sufficient number of skilful surveyors as his deputies, whom he shall cause to survey, measure and mark base Deputies. and meridian lines through such points, and perpetuated by such monuments and such other correction parallels and meridians as may be prescribed, and also to survey and establish the other lines of the public lands.(a) He shall also cause all private claims to be surveyed after they have been confirmed, so far as may be necessary to complete the surveys of the public lands; and in the location and survey of them he shall have Power to decide on conflicting the same power and authority as are conferred on the land officers of Louisiana by the claims. sixth section of the act of 3d March 1841, (b) creating the office of the surveyor-general for that state; and for surveying the base and meridian lines and private claims and Compensation of meandering navigable waters, the deputy-surveyor shall be allowed not exceeding sixteen dollars per mile; and for surveying the other lines of the public lands there shall be paid not exceeding an average of twelve dollars per mile: Provided, That none other than township lines shall be surveyed when the lands are mineral or are deemed unfit for cultivation; and no allowance shall be made for such lines as are not actually run and marked in the field and were actually necessary to be run. deputies. Ibid. 4. method to be 26. If, in the opinion of the secretary of the interior it shall be advisable, he is hereby authorized to direct such surveys after what is known as the geodetic method. And Secretary may whenever, in the opinion of the secretary of the interior, a departure from the rectangular direct geodetic mode of surveying and subdividing the public lands would promote the public interests, observed. he may direct such change to be made in the mode of surveying and designating the And authorize said lands as he may deem proper, with reference to the existence of mountains, mineral departare from deposits and the advantages derived from timber and water privileges: Provided, That of surveying. such lands shall not be surveyed into less than one hundred and sixty acres or subdivided subdivisions. into less than forty acres. rectangular mode Ibid. 25. 27. There shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, a register of the land office and receiver of public moneys for the state of Register and reCalifornia, at such time as, in his judgment, the public interest may demand, with a ceiver to be apsalary each of three thousand dollars per annum, payable quarter-yearly; and the land pointed. office shall be located at such place as the president, in view of the public convenience, Where land office shall from time to time direct; and, previously to entering on the duties of their offices, to be located. they each shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, before one of the judges of the Oaths of office. United States courts, or other competent officer, to support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices, and shall give Bonds. bond in the same amount as other registers and receivers of the public land offices; and their general duties and responsibilities shall be the same as other officers of like char- Duties and reacter: Provided however, That at such time or times as in his judgment the public sponsibilities. interest may so imperatively require, and in the absence of any further and special legis (a) See act 31 August 1852, as to the survey of the islands on (b) 4 Stat. 494. the coast of California. 10 Stat. 91. 3 March 1953. President may divide the state into land districts. Officers to be appointed for each. Ibid. 26. Lands to be subject to pre-emp tion law. Except lands reschools, &c., and served for mineral lands. Land sales. Notice of preemption claims. lation of congress on the subject, it shall be lawful for the president of the United States to divide the state of California into two or three separate and distinct land districts, as circumstances shall determine to be necessary, embracing respectively the upper and lower, or the upper, middle and lower portions of the state; and he shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, or during the recess of congress, when necessary, a register of the land office and receiver of public moneys for each of such land districts; and the land offices for the same respectively shall be located at, and be removed, from time to time, to such places as the president shall deem most suitable for public convenience. 28. All the public lands in the state of California, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the exception of sections sixteen and thirty-six, which shall be and hereby are granted to the state for the purposes of public schools in each township, and with the exception of lands appropriated under the authority of this act, or reserved by competent authority, and excepting also the lands claimed under any foreign grant or title and the mineral lands, shall be subject to the pre-emption laws of 4th September 1841, (a) with all the exceptions, conditions and limitations therein, except as is herein otherwise provided; and shall, after the plats thereof are returned to the office of the register, be offered for sale, after six months' public notice in the state of the time and place of sale, under the laws, rules and regulations now governing such sales, or such as may be hereafter prescribed: Provided, That where unsurveyed lands are claimed by pre-emption, the usual notice of such claim shall be filed within three months after the return of the plats of surveys to the land offices, and proof and payment shall be made prior to the day appointed by the president's proclamation for the commencement of the sale, including such lands; the entry of such claims to be made by legal subdivisions, according to the United States' Who entitled to survey, and in the most compact form: And provided further, That the fact of persons pre-emption rights. having heretofore had the benefit of said act of the 4th of September 1841, shall interpose no bar to their obtaining the benefits of this act; and all of said lands that shall Lands unsold to remain unsold after having been proclaimed and offered, shall be subject to entry at private sale as other public land, at the same minimum price per acre; and the register and receiver shall not be entitled to any per-centage or fees, except for deciding pre-emption cases, when each of them shall be allowed the same fees as are paid to other like officers; but the receiver shall be entitled to his actual necessary expenses, going and returning, Settlements to be in making his deposits: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize any settlement to be made on any public lands not surveyed, unless the same be made within one year from the passage of this act;(b) nor shall any right of such settlers be recognised by virtue of any settlement or improvement made of such unsurveyed lands Indian lands not subsequent to that day: And provided further, That this act shall not be construed to to be subject to authorize settlement to be made on any tract of land in the occupation or possession any of any Indian tribe, or to grant any pre-emption right to the same. be subject to entry at private sale. Fees. within one year. settlement. Ibid. § 7. 29. Where any settlement, by the erection of a dwelling-house or the cultivation of On settlement or any portion of the land, shall be made upon the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, appropriation of before the same shall be surveyed, or where such sections may be reserved for public uses school lands, others to be selected. or taken by private claims, other land shall be selected by the proper authorities of the state in lieu thereof, agreeably to the provisions of the act of congress, approved on the 20th of May 1826, (c) entitled "An act to appropriate lands for the support of schools in certain townships and fractional townships, not before provided for," and which shall be subject to approval by the secretary of the interior. And no person shall make a location to be settlement or location upon any tract or parcel of land selected for a military post, or posts, or mineral within one mile of such post, or on any other lands reserved by competent authority; nor shall any person obtain the benefits of this act by a settlement or location on mineral lands. No settlement or made on military lands. Ibid. 28. disposed of. 30. The public lands, not being mineral lands, occupied as towns or villages, shall not Town lands, how be subdivided, or subject to sale, or to be appropriated by settlers, under the provisions of this act; but the whole of such lands, whether settled upon before or after the survey of the same, shall be subject to the provisions of the act entitled "An act for the relief of the citizens of towns upon the lands of the United States, under certain circum. stances," approved May 23d 1844, (d) except such towns as are located on or near mineral lands, the inhabitants of which shall have the right of occupation and cultivation only until such time as congress shall dispose of the same; nor shall any lands specially reserved for public uses be appropriated under the provisions of this act. Ibid. 89. Compensation for surveying. 31. Whenever the public surveys, or any portion of them authorized by this act, or by the act approved September 27th 1850, (e) entitled "An act to create the office of surveyor-general of the public lands in Oregon, and to provide for the survey and to make (a) 5 Stat. 453. (b) Time extended, infra, 33. (c) 4 Stat. 179. (d) 5 Stat. 657, (e) 9 Stat. 496. |