An Act for the formation of a new county out of the counties of Dearborn and Jefferson, and for other purposes, 1814

Approved — September 7, 1814

§ 1. BE it enacted by the Legislative Council and House of Representatives, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passage hereof, all that part of the counties of Dearborn and Jefferson, which is included in the following boundaries, shall form and constitute a new county: that is to say; begining at a point between fractional sections number twenty two and twenty seven, on the Ohio river, in town three range one, west, thence due west with said sectional line to the old Indian boundary, thence nearly north running with said boundary to the north east corner of section thirteen, town six, range twelve in the new purchase, thence due north with said section line to the north east corner of town six, range twelve, thence west with the line dividing town six, range twelve, and town seven, and range twelve to the sectional line, dividing sections five and four, in town six, range twelve, in the new purchase, thence south with said sectional line, to the Ohio river, at a point between fractional sections number twenty and twenty one, about one mile below the old Indian boundary, in town three range twelve in the new purchase, thence with the meanders of the Ohio river and up the same to the place of begining.

§ 2. And be it further enacted, That the said county shall from and after the first day of October next, be known and designated by the name and style of the county of Switzerland, and it shall enjoy all the rights, privileges and jurisdictions which to a seperate county do or may properly appertain and belong: Provided always, That all suits, pleas, plaints, actions and proceedings, which may before the first day of October next have been commenced, instituted and depending within the new counties of Dearborn and Jefferson, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, in the same manner as if this act had never been passed: And provided also, That the Territorial and county levy's or taxes, which are now due within the bounds of the said new county, shall be collected and paid in the same manner, and by the same officers, as they would have been, if the creation of said new county had not taken place.

§ 3. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the place of holding the courts for the said county of Switzerland be established, the judges of the courts hereafter to be appointed in the said county, shall within six months thereafter, proceed to erect the necessary public buildings for the same, in such place, in the same manner, as is required by law, in respect to other counties, and after the public buildings are so erected, the courts of the said county shall adjourn to the said place at their next term after the same shall have been completed, which shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be the seat of justice for the county of Switzerland.

§ 4. And be it further enacted, That until the public buildings in the said new county be completed, the court hereafter to be appointed for the said county of Switzerland, shall be held in the town of Vevay in the said county aforesaid.

§ 5. Be it further enacted, That James Dill, Alexander A. Meek, Jesse L. Holman, Jocob Short and Isaac Dunn, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, for the purpose of fixing the seat of justice in the county of Switzerland, whose duty it shall be to convene at the house of John Frances Dufour, on the seventeenth day of October next, and proceed to fix the seat of justice in the county of Switzerland, in conformity with, and in all respects agreeably to an act passed at the session of the Legislature in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, entitled "an act for fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter to be laid off."

§ 6. And be it further enacted. That the sheriffs of Jefferson and Dearborn counties, be and they are hereby required to serve the aforesaid commissioners, whose residence may be in their respective counties, with a notice of their said appointments, on or before the first day of October next, for which service, he shall be allowed such compensation, as the courts hereafter to be established in and for the said county of Switzerland, may deem reasonable, to be allowed and discharged in the same manner that other county claims are : Provided however. That if any of the said commissioners, should be disqualified to act by the said act for fixing the seats of justice &c. the courts to be hereafter established in the county of Switzerland, shall have power to appoint others to supply such vacancy : Provided also, That the courts hereafter to be established in the said county of Switzerland, shall have all the powers, and be governed in all other respects as the courts of common pleas, under the act, entitled "an act for fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter to be laid off."

§ 7. And be it further enacted, That the county of Switzerland shall be attached to, and compose part of the third circuit for holding courts, as specified in the act passed at the present session establishing circuit courts,

§ 8. And be it further enacted. That the said county of Switzerland shall be entitled to one Representative, and when elected, his time shall expire the first Monday in August one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, and when the governor issues his writ of election, as is provided in the act, entitled "an act, apportioning the members of the House of Representatives of Indiana Territory, the associate judges of the circuit courts for the said county of Switzerland, shall have power to convene at the place of holding their courts, and appoint persons to conduct the election as the laws of the Territory may direct.

§ 9 And be it further enacted, That the county of Switzerland shall be considered, as part of the district for Dearborn and Jefferson counties for the election of councellors, and in case of a vacancey for a councellor, the said associate judges in the county of Switzerland, shall have power at any time, to cary the law into effect regulating elections.

§ 10. Be it further enacted. That all that part of Jefferson county which lies on the east side of a line, drawn from the north west corner of section four, in township six, range twelve, and running due north so far that a due north line, will strike the west end of the line dividing the counties of Dearborn and Franklin ; also that part of Jefferson county which lies within the following bounds, to wit, begining where the line of Switzerland county crosses the old line, between Jefferson and Dearborn, between sections twenty two and twenty seven, in town 4, range 3 ; thence west with the line of Switzerland aforesaid to the old Indian boundary line, thence with said Indian boundary line northwardly to where the line between Jefferson and Dearborn, strikes the old Indian boundary line, thence with said line of Jefferson and Dearborn to the begining shall be and the same are hereby added and attached to the county of Dearborn, and at all times hereafter, to all intents and purposes in law and in fact, the said parts of Jefferson county shall be taken, held and deemed as parts of Dearborn county and subject to all the laws now or hereafter to be in force regulating Dearborn county.

This act to take effect from and after the first day of October next.

**NOTE in § 10, line 5. In the enrolled act the second word is "east" instead of "north."