LL ss. To the sheriff of the county of, or his deputy, and to the keeper of the jail at," (or, "to any coroner," or "constable," as the case may require.) [Place Place of "We, the subscribers, two disinterested justices of the peace and of the quorum, in and for said county of, hereby certify, that a poor debtor, arrested on a certain execu tion issued by" (here insert the name and style of the court, or of the justice of the peace, and the amount of the judgment, and date of the judgment and execution,) " and committed to the jail at aforesaid," (or "enlarged on giving bonds to the creditor," as the case maybe,)" hath caused ——, the creditor, to be notified according to law, of his the said debtor's desire of taking the benefit of the one hundred and forty-eighth chapter of the Revised Statutes of this State, entitled, "of the relief of poor debtors," that in our opinion he is clearly entitled to have the oath, prescribed in the twenty-eighth section of said chapter, administered by us, and that we have, after due caution to him, administered said oath to him. Witness our hands and seals, this 18-. day of in the year Justices of the peace and of the quorum. Whenever any debtor in execution shall disclose before two justices of the peace and of the quorum any real estate liable to be levied upon by virtue of such execution, the justices are required to give the creditor a certificate thereof, stating therein the names of the parties, and the amount of the execution; and the creditor shall have a lien on such real estate for thirty days thereafter; provided he shall file said certificate as is provided in case of disclosure of real estate on mesne process, as before stated.1 If the debtor shall disclose any personal estate, liable to be levied upon by said execution, the creditor shall also have a lien thereon, or so much thereof, as the justices in their record shall judge to be necessary, for the term of thirty days; and if the debtor shall transfer, conceal, or otherwise dispose of the personal property, so disclosed or 1R. S. ch. 148, sec. 33. designated, within the thirty days, or suffer the same to be done, or if he shall refuse to surrender the same on the demand of any proper officer, having an execution on the same judgment, the debtor shall receive no benefit from the certificate of the justices, and is also subject to other penalties.' If, on the examination of a judgment debtor, who has given bond on mesne process, such debtor shall not entitle himself, in the opinion of the justices, to the benefit of the poor debtor's oath, and if it appear that said debtor, at the time of such examination, has any real or personal estate liable to attachment or levy under execution, or that he has property such as has been before described as property which cannot be come at to be attached, the said debtor shall by the justices be permitted to go at large, upon the bond given at the time of his arrest, during the thirty days in which the creditor's lien shall exist on the property disclosed; and during that term the creditor may arrest the debtor on execution, or enforce his lien on the property disclosed.2 The bond taken by an officer should be returned with the execution ; and the creditor is entitled to receive it, on filing a copy with the justice.3 No debtor is to be precluded from taking any oath, under the act for the relief of poor debtors, on account of his having been convicted of any crime, or being otherwise disqualified to testify as a witness in judicial proceedings; and nothing contained in said act, except in case of fraudulent disclosure, or fraudulent concealment of property disclosed, can prevent any debtor, who shall fail to obtain his discharge, from obtaining a certificate for that reason, at a future examination for the same debt.* If any debtor fail in his application for a discharge from arrest or imprisonment, the creditor recovers his costs, to be taxed as in actions before a justice of the peace; and the justices shall award the same, and issue execution accordingly." General provisions, applicable to certain specified cases of arrest and imprisonment. Any person arrested or imprisoned by virtue of any warrant for the collection of any public tax shall be entitled to the privileges of the act for the relief of poor debtors, and subject to the obligations of the same in all respects, as if arrested or committed on execution for debt, and for all the purposes of notice and other proceedings relating to the discharge from arrest or imprisonment of the person taxed, the assessors of the town, plantation or parish, by whom such warrant was issued, shall be regarded as the creditors.' In such case, the oath is to be varied by substituting for the words "commencement of the suit," or "the time when the debt or cause of action, or any part thereof, on which this suit was brought, was contracted by me," the following, "assessment of the tax for which I have been arrested," and for the words, "any of my creditors," the following, "any town, plantation or parish." And the certificate of discharge is also to be changed by substituting the words, "a warrant for taxes," for "execution," and "assessors" for "creditors."2 Whenever any constable, collector, or deputy sheriff shall be arrested, or committed to jail, for default, on account of any taxes committed to him to collect, such constable, collector, or deputy sheriff, is subject to the provisions of the poor debtor act, and has the privileges thereof, and in all proceedings under said act, in such case, the assessors of the town, plantation or parish, assessing such taxes, are to be deemed the creditors, and corresponding verbal alterations are to be made in the oath and certificate aforesaid." Whenever, in pursuance of law, in the trial of any action of trespass upon property, any court, or jury, or justice, shall have determined that such trespass was committed wilfully, and the court or justice shall have made a record of the fact, and the same shall have been noted on the margin of any execution on such judgment, and the judgment debtor shall be arrested thereon, he shall be committed to prison, and shall not be entitled to give any of the bonds, provided in the poor debtor act, for the liberation of his person; and if, in such case, such person shall apply to take the oath prescribed by said act, it is forbidden to issue notice to the creditor, until at least thirty days after the commitment of the debtor.* Any creditor may discharge his debtor from arrest or imprisonment on execution by giving to the officer making the arrest, or by leaving with the keeper of the prison, a written permission for the debtor to go at large, and the body of the debtor shall ever thereafter be exempted from arrest or imprisonment on the same debt; and the officer having the debtor in custody is required, at any time after such release, or at any time after his release in any of the modes provided by the poor debtor law, to indorse upon the execution a certificate of the fact and the cause thereof.1 The execution is, in such case, to be enforced in the same manner as if it no longer run against the body, and when renewed, is to be altered accordingly. And whether such indorsement is made, or not, the judgment may be enforced as a judgment against the goods and estate only. The judge of any municipal or police court, within his county, has the same powers, and is made subject to the like duties and obligations, under the act for the relief of poor debtors, as any justice of the peace and quorum in the same county.3 4. Proceedings in suit on bonds. The Revised Statutes provide, that if the debtor fail to fulfil the condition of his bond, judgment in any suit upon it shall be rendered for the amount of the execution and costs, and fees of service, with interest on the same, against all the obligors; and that a special judgment shall also be rendered against the principal debtor for a further sum equal to the interest on the same, at the rate of twenty per cent. by the year, after the breach of the bond.* A subsequent statute provides, that in all actions commenced in the superior courts, if it shall appear, that prior to a breach of any of the conditions of such bond, the principal therein had been allowed by two justices of the peace and of the quorum, to take, and had taken before such justices, the oath prescribed in the poor debtor act, the damage shall be assessed by the jury, if such be the request of either party; but if no such request be made, then by the court; and that the amount assessed shall be the real and actual damage and no more; and that any legal evidence upon that point may be introduced by either party." 1R. S. ch. 148, secs. 59, 60, 61. 2Ib. secs. 60, 61. Ib. sec. 62. 4Ib. sec. 39. Acts of 1848, ch. 85, sec. 2. The new judgment operates, in such case, to discharge, pro tanto, the execution, or warrant.' If the verdict or judgment be, that the creditor has sustained no damage, no costs are to be allowed to either party. The same statute provides, that "in all such actions commenced before a justice of the peace, or municipal judge, or town judge, the amount which the plaintiff may recover shall be the real and actual damage, which has been sustained by breach of the conditions of the bond and no more."3 If the bond is broken by reason of the irregular organization of the court, it has been decided that, under the second section of the act just referred to, providing no damage has been occasioned to the creditor, the action on the bond must fail; and that the breach of the bond is no damage, if the debtor had no attachable property.* 5. Disclosure of debtors to the State. Any person committed to jail on any execution, warrant of distress, or any other final civil process, for a debt, penalty, or costs due to the State, may, by application to the jailer having him in custody, avail himself of the provisions of law for the benefit of poor debtors." Upon such application, it is the duty of the jailor to apply in writing to a justice of the peace in behalf of the debtor, and the justice is required to issue a notification, directed to the county attorney for the county for which the commitment is made. The notification is to be served and returned, and like proceedings thereupon are to be had, as in cases where notice is served on individual creditors or their attornies." The justices are to make the oath and certificate conform to the case." 6. Disclosures under the bastardy act. When a person, who has been adjudged to be the father of a bastard child, shall have remained ninety days in jail, without being able to comply with the order of court, he may be liberated by taking the poor debtor's oath, in the same manner as persons may who are committed on execution. The notification, in such case, must be served on the complainant, if living, 1Acts of 1848, ch. 85, sec. 3. 2Ib. 'Ib. sec. 4. 430 Maine, 457. R. S. ch. 148, sec. 70. Ib. |