Chap. 105.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act, approved April 2,
1877, entitled an act to amend and re-enxct section 4 of chapter 182,
of the Code of 1878, as amended by an act, approved February 17,
1874, in reference to judgment liens.

Approved February 22, 1878.

J. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the act approved April seccnd, eighteen bundred and seventy-
seven, entitled an act to amend and re-enact section four of
chapter one hundred and eighty-two of the Code of eighteen
hundred and seventy-tbree, as amended by an act approved
February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four,
with reference to judgment liens, be amended and re-enacted
so as to read as follows:

§ 4. The clerk of each county and corporation court, and
the clerk of the chancery court of Richmond city, shall keep
in his office, in a well-bound book, a judgment docket, in
which he shall docket, without delay, any judgment in the
state when he shal: be required to do so by any person inter-
ested in such person’s delivering to him an authenticated
abstract of it; and shall docket every judgment rendered in
his court, and every judgment, the abstract of which may
be delivered to him by the clerk of thé circuit court of his
county or corporation; and the clerk of the circuit court of
each county or corporation in this state, except the clerks
of the circuit and corporation courts of Richmond city, shall,
without delay, deliver to the clerks of the county and cor-
poration courts of his county and corporation, an authenti-
cated abstract of every judgment rendered in his court or
office. In such docket there shall be stated, in separate
columns, the date and amount of the judgment, the date of
docketing it, the alternative value of any specific property
recovered by it; the amount and dates of any credits there-
on, with the names, description, and residence of the parties,
20 far as they appear in his office, or in such abstract, and
when paid off or discharged, in whole or in part, the time
thereof. Every judgment shall, as soon as it is docketed, be
indexed by the clerk in the name of each defendant therein;
and unless so indexed it shall not be regarded as docketed;
and the fact of the payment or discharge of said judgment,
either in whole or in part, shall be entered as aforesaid by
the clerk, upon the return of an execution showing such
satisfaction, either in whole or in part, or upon the certificate
of the clerk from whose office such execution issued, that the
same has been satisfied, either in whole or in part, or upon
the direction of the judgment creditor, or his attorney.
And in all cases where payment or satisfaction shall be made,
which does not appear by the return of an execution to the
office of the clerk where the judgment is docketed, it shall
be the duty of the judgment creditor, either by himself, his
agent, or attorney, to cause such payment or satisfaction,
whether in whole or ia part, to be entered on the said judg-
ment docket within ninety days after the same is made; and
for any failure so to do, such judgment creditor shall be
liable to a fine of twenty dollars. And for the additional
service hereby imposed on the clerk, of entering satisfaction:
on his judgment docket, he shall be entitled to charge a fee
of twenty cents, to be paid by the judgment debtor. And if
the clerk fail to do anything required of him by this section,
he shall pay a fine of not less than thirty nor more than
three bundred dollars, to any person who will prosccute
therefor; or a defendant in any judgment, or a grantor in any
deed of trust or other incumbrance, his heirs or personal
representatives may, on motion, after ten days’ notice there-
of to the plaintiff in said judgment, or his assignee, or the
beneficiary in such trust or incumbrance, or his assignee, or if
he be dead, his personal representative, apply to the county or
circuit court of the county, or the corporation or circuit
court of each city or town in which any incumbrance is
recorded, or to the court in which any judgment was ren-
dered, to have the same released or discharged. And upon
proof that the judgment or incumbrance has been paid or
discharged, such court shall order the same to be entered on
the margin of the page in the book wherein the said judg-
ment was entered, or incumbrance is recorded, and a certifi-
cate of such order to be made to the clerk of the court in
which such judgment is by this section required to be dock-
eted, or in which such incumbrance is recorded, and the clerk
of such court, immediately upon receipt of such certificate,
shall enter the same on the margin of the page where the
judgment is docketed or incumbrance recorded; notice to the
attorney of a non-resident party, in any such motion, shall
be sufficient: and provided further that where any judgment
Is Obtained in this state outside the said city of Richmond,
and the Judement ercditor seeks to make the same a lien on
lands within said city, it shall be docketed within the time
preseribed by law in the chancery court of the city of Rich-
mond, and not in the said hustings court; and no judgment
shall be docketed in said court unless it be so directed by
the judement creditor, or his attorney: provided further
that whenever a judgment is recovered in tavor of the com-
monwealth against officers who have made default, or their
sureties, the same shall be docketed in all the counties where-
In the said principal or his sureties reside,
2. This act shall be in force from its passage.