in the Western District of THONGS U. of Sties. Congress. Fouse. HEARING BEFORE THE LIBR 4 JUL 11 1984 COPY EXCHANGE & GIFT DIVISION COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY SEVENTY-FIRST CONGRESS TERMS OF COURT AT ROCK FORD INSTEAD OF FREEPORT, IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Friday, May 2, 1930. The subcommittee this day met, Hon. Earl C. Michener (chairman), presiding. Mr. MICHENER. The committee will come to order. This meeting has been called at the request of Representative Buckbee, who introduced H. R. 10415. The bill is as follows: [H. R. 10415, Seventy-first Congress, second session] A BILL To amend section 79 of the Judicial Code Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 79 of the Judicial Code (section 152, title 28, United States Code) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: 1 "The State of Illinois is divided into three districts, to be known as the northern, southern, and eastern districts of Illinois. The northern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of July, 1910, in the counties of Cook, De Kalb, Du Page, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, La Salle, McHenry, and Will, which shall constitute the eastern division; also the territory embraced on the date last mentioned in the counties of Boone, Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago, which shall constitute the western division. Terms of the district court for the eastern division shall be held at Chicago on the first Mondays in February, March, April, May, June, July, September, October, and November, and the third Monday in December; and for the western division, at Rockford on the second Monday of May, and the first Monday of December: Provided, That suitable rooms and accommodations for holding the said court at Rockford are furnished free of expense to the United States until the United States shall make provision therefor in its own property. The clerk for the northern district shall maintain an office in charge of himself or a deputy at Chicago and at Rockford, which shall be kept open at all times for the transaction of the business of the court. The marshal for the northern district shall maintain an office in the division in which he himself does not reside and shall appoint at least one deputy who shall reside therein. The southern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of July, 1910, in the counties of Bureau, Fulton, Henderson, Henry, Knox, Livingston, McDonough, Marshall, Mercer, Putnam, Peoria, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, and Woodford, which shall constitute the northern division; also the territory embraced on the date last mentioned in the counties of Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, De Witt, Greene, Hancock, Jersey, Logan, McLean, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, and Scott, which shall constitute the southern division. Terms of the district court for the northern division shall be held at Peoria on the third Mondays in April and October; for the southern division, at Springfield on the first Mondays in January and June, and at Quincey on the first Mondays in March and September. The clerk of the court for the southern district shall maintain an office in charge of himself or a deputy at Peoria, at Springfield, and at Quincy, which shall be kept open at all times for the transaction of the business of the court. The marshal for said southern district shall appoint at least one deputy residing in the said northern division, who shall maintain an office at Peoria. The eastern district shall include the territory embraced on the 1st day of July, 1910, in the counties of Alexander, Champaign, Clark. Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Kankakee, Lawrence, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Moultrie, Perry, Piatt, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saint Clair, Saline, Shelby, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson. The terms of the district court for the eastern district shall be held at Danville on the first Mondays in March and September; at Cario on the first Mondays in April and October; and at East Saint Louis on the first Mondays in May and November. The clerk of the court for the eastern district shall maintain an office in charge of himself or a deputy at Danville, at Cairo, and at East Saint Louis, which shall be kept open at all times for the transaction of the business of the court, and shall there keep the records, files, and documents pertaining to the court at that place. Representative Johnson notified the committee that he is opposed to the bill. Mr. JOHNSON. That is right. Mr. MICHENER. Mr. Buckbee, of course, favors the bill. We shall be glad to hear first from those who favor the bill, and then from those who oppose the bill. Mr. Buckbee, how much time do you think you will require? STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN T. BUCKBEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS Mr. BUCKBEE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am going to waive my time in favor of Mr. Thomas E. Gill, who represents he Winnebago County Bar Association, and I will ask him about what time he thinks he will need. Mr. GILL. It is entirely up to the discretion of the committee. Mr. MICHENER. As far as the discretion of the committee is concerned, we want the facts. We would like to know how long it will require for you to present the facts. Mr. GILL. As to the facts, I take it, if we make any analysis of the facts, it will require about half an hour, I should think. Mr. MICHENER. You will require about half an hour. How long do you desire, Mr. Johnson? Mr. JOHNSON. That will be plenty for me. Mr. MICHENER. So we should finish the hearing in an hour. Of course, the committee wants to hear what the facts are. We will proceed on that basis. STATEMENT OF THOMAS E. GILL, ROCKFORD, ILL., REPRESENTING THE WINNEBAGO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS Mr. GILL. Mr. Chairman, if we consider it necessary, may we have about five minutes to present any further facts in rebuttal? May we divide our time, if we care to do so? Mr. MICHENER. Yes. Will you state your name, your occupation, and whom you represent? Mr. GILL. Thomas E. Gill, of Rockford, Ill. I am a lawyer and represent the Winnebago County Bar Association and also civic organizations of Rockford. Mr. MICHENER. And you favor the bill before us, H. R. 10415? Mr. GILL. Yes, sir. Mr. MICHENER. You may proceed. Mr. GILL. May I hand to the members of the committee a rather elaborate, but somewhat hurriedly prepared statement of what we expect to prove. The first part of that statement is divided into 11 different sub⚫ heads. The first one that I think we ought to present to the committee is the question of population, and in order to graphically represent that we have here a map which we can leave for the benefit of the committee. Mr. MICHENER. May I suggest this, in the interest of clarification, that you state briefly before you proceed with that, what this bill provides for, and the reason why you are asking for this legislation? Mr. GILL. The bill provides for the transfer of the place for the sitting of the Federal court in the northern district of Illinois for the western division, from the city of Freeport in the county of Stephenson, to the city of Rockford, in the county of Winnebago, with the same terms that now exist. Mr. MICHENER. It is just a change of location? Mr. GILL. It is just a change of location; yes, sir. Mr. MICHENER. Why do you ask that? Mr. GILL. The reason we ask that is this. The court was organized, approximately, in 1904 or 1905. At that time the city of Rockford contained about 30,000 people, and the city of Freeport contained approximately 20.000. I do not want to be bound by the exact figures. |