BE IT enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That the persons who have been, or may hereafter be, appointed
commissioners, in virtue of any act of Congress, by the Circuit Courts of the United States,
and Who, in consequence of such appointment, are authorized to exercise the powers that
any justice of the peace, or other magistrate of any of the United States, may exercise in
respect to offenders for any crime or offense against the United States, by arresting,
imprisoning, or bailing the same under and by the virtue of the thirty-third section of the act
of the twenty-fourth of September seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An Act to
establish the judicial courts of the United States" shall be, and are hereby, authorized and
required to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Superior Court of each organized Territory of the
United States shall have the same power to appoint commissioners to take acknowledgments
of bail and affidavits, and to take depositions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now
possessed by the Circuit Court of the United States; and all commissioners who shall hereafter
be appointed for such purposes by the Superior Court of any organized Territory of the United
States, shall possess all the powers, and exercise all the duties, conferred by law upon the
commissioners appointed by the Circuit Courts of the United States for similar purposes, and
shall moreover exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Circuit Courts of the United States shall from time
to time enlarge the number of the commissioners, with a view to afford reasonable facilities to
reclaim fugitives from labor, and to the prompt discharge of the duties imposed by this act.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners above named shall have concurrent
jurisdiction with the judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, in their
respective circuits and districts within the several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts
of the Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and vacation; shall grant certificates to
such claimants, upon satisfactory proof being made, with authority to ake and remove such
fugitives from service or labor, under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory
from which such persons may have escaped or fled.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy marshals
to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of this act, when to
them directed; and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant, or
other process, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he
shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of such
claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by the Circuit or District Court for the district of such
marshal; and after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his deputy, or whilst at any time
in his custody under the provisions of this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with or
without the assent of such marshal or his deputy, such marshal shall be liable, on his official
bond, to be prosecuted for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the service or labor
of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or District whence he escaped: and the better to enable
the said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently,
in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States and of this act,
they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties respectively, to appoint, in
writing under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all
such warrants and other process as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their
respective duties; with authority to such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed by
them, to execute process as aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, or
posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary to ensure a faithful observance of the
clause of the Constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this act; and all
good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution
of this law, whenever their services may be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; and said
warrants shall run, and be executed by said officers, any where in the State within which
they are issued.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That when a person held to service or labor in any State or
Territory of the United States, ha: heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or
Territory of the United States, the person or persons to whom such service 01 labor may be
due, or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by power of attorney, in writing,
acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal officer or court of the State or Territory
in which the same may be executed, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by
procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners aforesaid, of the
proper circuit, district, or county, for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor,
or by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same can be done without process, and
by taking, or causing such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge, or
commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a
summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or affidavit, in
writing, to be taken and certified by such court, judge, or commissioner, or by other
satisfactory testimony, duly taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice of the
peace, or other legal officer authorized to administer an oath and take depositions under the
laws of the State or Territory from which such person owing service or labor may have
escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy or other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal
of the proper court or officer thereto attached, which seal shall be sufficient to establish the
competency of the proof, and with proof, also by affidavit, of the identity of the person whose
service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the person so arrested does in fact
owe service or labor to the person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory
from which such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid, and that said person escaped, to
make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate setting forth
the substantial facts as to the service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of
his or her escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was arrested, with authority
to such claimant, or his or her agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and restraint
as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take and remove such fugitive
person back to the State or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In
no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in
evidence; and the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section mentioned, shall be
conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such f
ugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of
such person or persons by any process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other
person whomsoever.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly
obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or persons
lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either
with or without process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from
service or labor, from the custody of such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other
person or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority
herein given and declared; or shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor
as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney, or
other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal such
fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge
of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid, shall, for either
of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment
not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United
States for the district in which such offence may have been committed, or before the proper
court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized Territories of the
United States; and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages to the party injured
by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid,
to be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or Territorial Courts aforesaid, within
whose jurisdiction the said offence may have been committed.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said
District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid, for their services, the like fees as may be allowed
for similar services in other cases; and where such services are rendered exclusively in the
arrest, custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or
where such supposed fugitive may be discharged out of custody for the want of sufficient proof
as aforesaid, then such fees are to be paid in whole by such claimant, his or her agent or
attorney; and in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled
to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate
to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not,
in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery, inclusive of all
services incident to such arrest and examination, to be paid, in either case, by the claimant,
his or her agent or attorney. The person or persons authorized to execute the process to be
issued by such commissioner for the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor as
aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for each person he or they may
arrest, and take before any commissioner as aforesaid, at the instance and request of such
claimant, with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such
other additional services as may be necessarily performed by him or them; such as attending
at the examination, keeping the fugitive in custody, and providing him with food and lodging
during his detention, and until the final determination of such commissioners; and, in general,
for performing such other duties as may be required by such claimant, his or her attorney or
agent, or commissioner in the premises, such fees to be made up in conformity with the fees
usually charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the proper district or county, as
near as may be practicable, and paid by such claimants, their agents or attorneys, whether
such supposed fugitives from service or labor be ordered to be delivered to such claimant by
the final determination of such commissioner or not.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit made by the claimant of such fugitive,
his agent or attorney, after such certificate has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend
that such fugitive will be rescued by force from his or their possession before he can be taken
beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer
making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence
he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent, or attorney. And to this end, the
officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as he may
deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service so long as
circumstances may require. The said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive
the same compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses, as are now allowed by law for
transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district within which the arrest is
made, and paid out of the treasury of the United States.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That when any person held to service or labor in any State
or Territory, or in the District of Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such
service or labor shall be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may apply to any court of
record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory proof to such court, or
judge in vacation, of the escape aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or labor
to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record to be made of the matters so proved,
and also a general description of the person so escaping, with such convenient certainty as
may be; and a transcript of such record, authenticated by the attestation of the clerk and of
the seal of the said court, being produced in any other State, Territory, or district in which the
person so escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner, or other
officer authorized by the law of the United States to cause persons escaping from service or
labor to be delivered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the fact
of escape, and that the service or labor of the person escaping is due to the party in such r
ecord mentioned. And upon the production by the said party of other and further evidence if
necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition to what is contained in the said record of the
identity of the person escaping, he or she shall be delivered up to the claimant. And the said
court, commissioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act to grant certificates to
claimants or fugitives, shall, upon the production of the record and other evidences aforesaid,
grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any such person identified and proved
to be owing service or labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such claimant to
seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory from which he escaped:
Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring the production of a
transcript of such record as evidence as aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be
heard and determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in law.