Chap. 88,—An ACT to amend and re-enact saction 4, chapter 182 of
the Code, as amended by an act approved February 14, 1874, as
amended by an act approved April 2, 1877, as amended by an act ap-
proved March 9, 1880, as amended by an act approved March 10, 1884,
in relation to judgment and other liens.

Approved November 22, 1884.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
section four of chapter one hundred and eighty-two of the
Code of Virginia, edition of eighteen hundred and seventy-
three, as amended by an act approved. February seventeenth,
eighteen hundred and seventy-four, as amended by an act ap-
proved April second, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, as
amended by an act approved February twenty-second, eigh-
teen hundred and seventy-eight, as amended by an act ap-
proved March ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty, as amend-
ed by an act approved March tenth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-four, be and the same is hereby amended and re-en-
acted so as to read as follows: |

§4. The clerk of each county and corporation court, ex-
cept the clerk of the hustings court of the city of Richmond,
and the clerk of the chancery court of the city of Richmond,
shall keep in his office, in a well-bound book, a judgment
docket, in which he shall docket, without delay, any judg-
ment in the state when he shall be required so to do by any
person interested, on such person delivering to him an au-
thenticated 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 the circuit
court of his county or corporation; and the clerk of the cir-
cuit court of each county or corporation in the state, shall,
without delay, deliver to the clerks of the said county or cor-
poration courts of his county or corporation, and in the city
of Richmond to the said chancery court of the city of Rich-
mond, an authenticated abstract of every judgment rendered
in his court or office, except that orders, judgments and de-
crees de bonis testatoris, and orders, judgments and decrees
against fiduciaries, for which such fiduciary is not personally
liable, and against commissioners and receivers of any court;
and except, also, that orders, judgments and decrees’ against.
any bank, or incorporated company doing a banking busi-
ness, for money deposited under the order of any court, or
by a commissioner or receiver of any court, or subject to the
order of any court, shall not be docketed, nor abstracts there-
of delivered by-the clerk of the circuit court to the clerk of
the county or corporation court, or the said chancery court
of the city of Richmond, unless required by the plaintiff in
such order, judgment or decree, or some person interested
therein, to be so certified and docketed, and then only at the
cost of-such plaintiff or person so interested. 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 thereon, with the names, description
and residence of the parties, so 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 shall not be regarded
as docketed as to any defendant in whose name it is not in-
dexed, and the fact of the payment or discharge of said judg-
ment, either in whole or in part, shall be entered as aforesaid
by the clerks upon the return of any execution showing such
satisfaction, either in whole or in part, or upon the certificate
of the clerk from whose office such execution is 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 the clerk of the circuit court of each county and corpo-
ration in the state shall, without delay, certify to the clerks
of the county or corporation courts of his county or corpora-
tion, and in the city of Richmond to the clerk of the chan-
cery court of said city, that any judgment rendered in his
court or office has been satisfied in whole or in part upon the
return of an execution issued thereupon, showing such satis-
faction. Whenever it appears from the said return that such
satisfaction was obtained before the return-day of the said
execution, or was obtained subsequent to a levy made thereon
before such return-day, such fact shall be noted by the clerk
on said docket, and for this service the clerk shall be entitled
to charge a fee of twenty cents, to be paid by the judgment-
debtor. And in all cases where payment or satisfaction shall
be made, which does not appear by the return of an execu-
tion to the office of the clerk where the judgment is docketed,
and is not. hereinbefore provided for, or when the payment
or satisfaction shall be made in whole or in part of a debt se-
cured by deed of trust or vendor’s lien, it shall be the duty of
the judgment or lien-creditor, either by himself, his agent or
attorney, to cause such payment or satisfaction, whether in
whole or in part, to be entered on said judgment docket, or
on the margin of the page in the book where such incum-
brance is recorded, within ninety days after the same is made,
and for any failure to do so, such judgment or lien-creditor
shall be liable to a fine of twenty dollars. Such entry of sat-
isfaction or payment shall be signed by the creditor, his duly
authorized agent or attorney, and when so signed, and the
signature thereto attested by the clerk in whose office the
lien is recorded, the same shall operate as a release of the
judgment, deed of trust, or other lien as to which such satis-
faction or judgment is so entered; and for the additional ser-
vice hereby imposed on the clerk, he shall be entitled to
charge a fee of twenty cents, to be paid by the debtor; and if
any clerk fail to do what is required of him by this section,
he shall pay a fine of not less than thirty nor more than three
hundred dollars to any person who will prosecute therefor, or
a defendant in any judgment, or a grantor in any deed of
trust or other incumbrance, his heirs or personal representa-
tives may, on motion, after ten days’ notice thereof 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 cir-
cuit 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 rendered, 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 judgment was entered or
incumbrance is recorded, and a certificate of such order to be
made to the clerk of the court in which such judgment is by
this section required to be docketed, or in which such incum-
brance is recorded, and the clerk of such court, immediately
upon the receipt of such certificate, shall enter the same on
the margin of the page where the judgment is docketed or
the incumbrance recorded. Notice to the attorney of a non-
resident party in such motion shall be sufficient: and pro-
vided further, that where any judgment is obtained in this
state outside of the city of Richmond, and the judgment-
creditor seeks to make the same a lien on lands within said
city, it shall be docketed within the time prescribed by law
in the chancery court of the city of Richmond, and not in
the hustings court; and no judgment shall be docketed in
said court unless it be so directed by the judgment-creditor
or his attorney: previded further, that whenever a judgment
is recovered in favor of the commonwealth against officers
who have made default, or their securities, the same shall be
docketed in all the counties wherein the said principal or his
sureties reside.
2. This act shall be in force from its passage.