 | A history of Caroline county, Virginia |  |
THE COUNTY COURT
An enactment of 1642, provided that the Monthly Court
be reduced to six courts annually, and that these be called County
Courts, instead of Monthly, and that the commissioners be styled
Commissioners of County Courts. (Hening, Vol. I). These bimonthly
courts were held for about twenty-five years, or till 1769,
after which time they were held monthly. The County Court
consisted of eight or more citizens of the county who were commissioned
by the Governor and Council and called justices of
the peace. Four justices, if one were of the quorum, constituted
a court. These courts had jurisdiction over all cases in common
law, or in chancery, provided the amount involved was over
twenty-five shillings, and the penalty for the alleged crime less
than loss of life or outlawry. Matters under twenty-five shillings
were adjusted by a single justice, while all greater crimes were
adjudicated by the Governor and Council in the General Court.
The County Court had, in addition to its judicial functions,
the authority to erect and repair the county court-house, to
contract for the construction of roads and bridges, or, in the
absence of such contract, to procure labour for the construction
a certain amount of work under the direction of a surveyor.
These courts also had the authority to clear the rivers of obstructions,
to beat the bounds of parishes, to license taverns, to
recommend inspectors of tobacco, to designate places for tobacco
warehouses, to designate "landings," to appoint constables, and
to nominate for sheriff three of its own members, one of whom
the Governor invariably appointed for the ensuing year.
| A history of Caroline county, Virginia | |