Titles to real estate, how restored.

destruction of the record thereof, shall be begun within five years from the passage of this act.

Section 907c. That whenever the record of any deed or other instrument conveying the title to real estate which is authorized or required by law to be recorded, or any will and the probate thereof, is lost or destroyed by fire, riot or civil commotion, and the original of such deed or will and the probate thereof, or other instrument, or a certified copy thereof, cannot be found, any person claiming title to such real estate or any interest under said will, may bring an action in any court of common pleas of the county where the loss occurred to establish the fact of the existence, contents and record of such deed, will and probate thereof, or other instrument prior to such loss or destruction, and the decree in the case shall be entered in the office where the original record existed. Any person having or claiming an made parties interest in said real estate or being in possession thereof, as well as the parties to the said lost deed or other instrument or their privies, and all persons interested under said will may be made parties defendant in such suit; and service of summons shall be made in the same manner as in other suits concerning real estate.

Who to be defendant.

Costs, how paid.

Road

records, how restored.

Publication and notice of.

Section 907d. The costs of the proceedings mentioned in sections 9076 and 907c shall be the same as are provided by law for the like services in civil cases, and shall be paid out of the county treasury on the order of the court.

Section 4935a. Whenever an application shall be filed in the court of common pleas of any county by the commissioners thereof showing that the records of any specified. road or roads of said county were lost or destroyed by fire, riot, or civil commotion, and that copies thereof or of some of them are in existence, and praying that the verity of such copies as may be produced shall be ascertained and declared by the court, said court shall require notice to be given by publication for six weeks upon such days, not less than once a week, and in such newspapers as said court shall direct, of the filing and prayer of said application, and that the same will stand for hearing upon some day fixed by the court, and requiring all persons interested to appear on said day and show cause, if any they have, why said application should not be granted, and shall also cause a copy of said publication to be served at each house which is occupied on the premises abutting on said road or roads upon any person dwelling therein, and upon the owner of each lot or tract of land abutting on said road or roads, or his agent, if the same be found in said county, at least one week before the day fixed for such hearing. Upon the day fixed for said hearing, and upon such days thereafter as said court by entry on its journal may direct, said court shall proceed to hear and determine whether the papers produced before it or any of them, are accurate or substantial copies of said records fairly and honestly made, in considering which it shall hear any evidence which in its judgment throws light upon the question without regard to the ordinary rules of evidence;

and if, and as often as, said court shall find any of said papers to be accurate or substantial copies of such records, it shall so enter upon its journal and direct transcripts of such copies to be made by such persons as it may select. As often as any of said transcripts shall be completed to the satisfaction of the court, an entry of that fact shall be made upon its journal, and thereupon the clerk shall certify upon such transcripts that they have been approved by the court, and shall deliver them to the commissioners of said county, and thereafter said transcripts so certified shall prima facie have the same force and effect as the originals from which said copies were made. The costs of making said Costs of, transcripts shall be fixed and allowed by the court; other how paid. costs under this and the following sections shall be the same as now fixed by law for similar services, and all costs for restoring such lost road records shall be paid by the county, except as hereinafter provided.

etc., are in

Section 4935b. Upon its appearing to the court at any Proceeding time after the filing of said application and before the final when copies determination thereof that any person has in his possession of records, or under his control papers purporting to be copies of said existence. record, or the originals from which the same were made and refuses to produce the same to the court, the said court shall issue a rule requiring such person to show cause why he does not produce such papers and enforce the same by proceedings for contempt as in other cases, and in case the production of such papers is ordered by the court, the party ordered to produce the same shall pay all the costs under this section.

Section 4935c. As to all county roads whose records have County been lost or destroyed as aforesaid, and are not reproduced roads." under the foregoing sections, prima facie the center of the road as now fenced shall be taken as the true center, and prima facie the width of the said road shall be sixty feet.

counterfeit

Section 7092a. Whoever falsely makes, alters, forges, or Penalty counterfeits the record of any proceeding, judgment, decree, for altering, entry, or any part of the record of any judicial proceeding forging or required by law to be made in any action or other proceed- ing record. ing of any court in this state, or any certified copy of such record or any part thereof, or any pleading. process, return, report, minute or docket entry or other authentic matter in any court in this state, or any writing by law made evidence. for the purpose of restoring a lost or destroyed record, or any person who offers in evidence as true or genuine any such false, altered, forged, or counterfeited matter knowing the same to be altered, false, forged, or counterfeited, is guilty of forgery, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than twenty years nor less than one year.

SEC. 2. Remedies and rules of evidence provided by this Remedies, act shall be cumulative to those already provided by law. etc., cumuThere shall be no appeal or proceeding in error from the lative.

order of any court in relation to the restoration of any lost or destroyed record, document, or other writing.

SEC. 3. Said original section 5084, and section 907, as amended April 2, 1880 (77 O. L. 113) are hereby repealed; and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

A. D. MARSH,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
JOHN G. WARWICK,
President of the Senate.

Passed April 12, 1884.

Proceedings to clean out or repair ditch.

[House Bill No. 148.]

AN ACT

To amend sections 4553, 4554, 4555, and to repeal section 4558 of the revised statutes of Ohio.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That sections forty-five hundred and fifty-three, fortyfive hundred and fifty-four and forty-five hundred and fiftyfive of the revised statutes of Ohio be amended so as to read as follows:

Section 4553. Whenever it becomes necessary to clean out any ditch, any resident owner of any lot or tract of land which was assessed for its construction, may make a statement in writing of such necessity to the trustees, who shall thereupon meet and appoint one of their number to examine said ditch, who shall go upon the line thereof and make such examination and estimate of the amount of labor and money required therefor, and fix the portion thereof that the owner or owners of each lot or tract of land, and each corporation assessed for the construction of said ditch should be assessed for such cleaning out, and such assessment shall be made according to the benefits to accrue to each landowner interested, as near as practicable, unless the necessity for such cleaning out arose from the act or neglect of any landowner or corporation, in which case such act or neglect shall be considered. [72 v. 20, § 27; 63 v. 38, § 1].

Section 4554. Such trustee shall return his estimate and Proceedings on return of assessment with such facts as may be necessary to a full estimate. understanding of the case, to the township clerk, in writing, within ten days, who, upon receipt of such report, shall cause the same to be entered in full upon the township record, and shall fix a time for hearing the claim or claims of those interested, and shall further order the township clerk forthwith to notify the owner or owners of each tract of land, or his agent, so far as their residence may be known to said clerk, which notice shall contain a written or printed copy of the report and estimate of such trustee. At the time fixed for hearing the parties interested in such proposed

cleaning out, the trustees may make such changes therein as they may deem just and equitable. After such hearing they shall make a final order, which shall be entered upon their record, specifying the assessment upon each tract or parcel of land interested in such proposed improvement, and the extent to which said ditch shall be cleaned out, and they shall cause the township clerk to forth with notify the owner or owners of each tract of land, or his or their agent or agents, so far as their residence is known to the clerk, to clean out such ditch to its original capacity within thirty days, unless for good cause shown the trustees may extend the time; but in case the residence of the owner or owners of any such tract of land, or his agent, is unknown to the clerk, he shall cause to be posted up in at least three of the most public places in the township or townships in which said ditch is located, written or printed notices of the time fixed for cleaning out such ditch. [72 v. 20, § 27.]

Landowner

Section 4555. Every person or corporation through whose lands any ditch improvement is constructed, shall be re- to keep ditch quired to keep the same open, free and clear of all obstruc- clear of obtions upon his or its premises, and in case of failure so to do, structions; shall be liable to pay all reasonable. expenses of removing how duty such obstructions; a person or corporation aggrieved by any enforced. such obstruction may make a sworn statement of the facts to the township trustees, who shall at once appoint one of their number to examine the premises, and inquire into the truth of the statement, who shall proceed without delay to do the same, and if he find the statement to be true, he shall immediately notify the owner of the land upon which such obstruction exists to remove the same within a reasonable time, not exceeding twenty days; and if the owner so notified fails to remove the obstruction, the trustee appointed to make the examination shall at once cause the same to be removed at the expense of such owner or owners, and certify such expense to the auditor, who shall place the same, together with all fees and other expenses in the case, on the duplicate, as an assessment upon the lands of such person or corporation, and the same shall be a lien upon such lands, and shall be collected as other taxes.

SEC. 2. That said sections 4553, 4554, 4555 and 4558 of the revised statutes of Ohio be and the same are hereby repealed. SEC. 3. This act to take effect from and after its passage.

A. D. MARSH,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

JOHN G. WARWICK,

Passed April 12, 1884.

President of the Senate.

Judicial

circuits, how comprised.

Circuit court.

Election of judges.

[House Bill No. 262.]

AN ACT

To provide for the organization of circuit courts, and adapt existing legislation thereto.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the following sections of the revised statutes of Ohio, to wit: Four hundred and forty-seven, four hundred and forty-eight, four hundred and forty-nine, four hundred and fifty, four hundred and fifty-one, four hundred and fiftytwo, four hundred and fifty-three, four hundred and fifty-four, five hundred and fifty-seven, and three thousand and five, be supplemented as follows:

Section 447a. The state shall be divided into seven circuits, of which the counties of Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, Warren and Clinton, shall constitute the first circuit.

The counties of Preble, Darke, Shelby, Miami, Montgomery, Champaign, Clarke, Greene, Fayette, Madison and Franklin, shall constitute the second circuit.;

The counties of Mercer, Van Wert, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Fulton, Henry, Putnam, Allen, Auglaize, Wood, Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Union, Seneca, Marion, Wyandot and Crawford, shall constitute the third circuit.

The counties of Brown, Adams, Highland, Pickaway, Ross, Pike, Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia, Jackson, Meigs, Vinton, Hocking, Athens, Washington and Monroe, shall constitute the fourth circuit.

The counties of Morrow, Richland, Ashland, Knox, Licking, Fairfield, Perry, Morgan, Muskingum, Coshocton, Holmes, Wayne, Stark, Tuscarawas and Delaware, shall constitute the fifth circuit.

The counties of Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Medina, Summit and Cuyahoga, shall constitute the sixth circuit.

The counties of Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga, Trumbull, Portage, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont and Noble, shall constitute the seventh circuit.

Section 4476. The circuit court shall be held by three judges, a majority of whom, competent to sit, shall be necessary to pronounce a decision, or enter an order, judgment or decree. Such court shall be known as the circuit court of county; and all process issued therefrom shall be entitled: "The state of Ohio, circuit court of county" (in each case insert name of proper county).

Section 447c. The first election for circuit judges shall be held on the second Tuesday of October, 1884; at which time three judges shall be elected in each circuit, by the qualified electors thereof; and said election shall be held and returned in all respects as provided for the election of common pleas judges; and the returns thereof shall be certified to the secretary of state, and shall be canvassed and commissions be issued as provided by law in the case of common pleas judges.