Smith v. Terrill
Smith v. Terrill
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The only question to be decided in this case is, whether an attachment, where the debt is fifty dollars and under, may be executed, returned, and tried, in any county in the state in which the property of the defendant may be found and seized; in other words, whether an attachment may be issued by a justice in one county and executed and returned and tried in another county in the state, where the debt is not over $ 50 in amount.
By the act of 1804, (1 Statute Law, 163,) where the debt did not exceed five pounds, an attachment, for the cause specified therein, might be issued, directed to any sheriff or constable of the commonwealth, levied in any county in the state, and be returned and tried before any justice in the county, where the property of the defendant was taken. Afterwards, by the act of 1839, which was- designed to condense and embody in one act all the previous acts upon the subject of common law attachments, the jurisdiction of justices over these attachments was extended, so as to authorize their return before them in all oases where the debt did not exceed $50 in amount, whereas previously, if the debt was over five pounds, they were made returnable first before the court of quarter sessions, and after-wards to the courts which received its jurisdiction.
By the 1st section of this act of 1839, (3 Statute Law, 46,) where the debt is not over fifty dollars in value or amount, an attachment, for the causes mentioned therein, may be directed to “ all constables and sheriffs in the commonwealth of Kentucky,” any of whom, in whatever county it may be, as believed by this court, may “ serve and levy the same upon the slaves, goods, or chattels of the defendant, wherever
Wherefore, because the circuit court, erred in quashing the attachment- and dismissing the appeal, the judgment is reversed, and cause remanded, that the court below may render a judgment on the verdict.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.