shall forthwith, and without proceeding further in said action, file with the clerk of said town court all of the original files and motions in said cause or action; and said clerk of said town court shall thereupon enter said cause upon the docket of said court, and this shall operate as a transfer of said cause or action to said town court, which shall thereupon have full jurisdiction to hear and determine it at the next return day of said court, or at any time thereafter, in the same manner as if it had been brought before said town court by original process; nor shall any bonds, attachments, or other security in favor of either party be impaired by such transfer; and when said motion above provided for shall have been filed with said justice, any further order, judgment, execution, or proceeding by said justice shall be null and void; and said justice shall indorse such transfer on the original file and shall be allowed a record fee of fifty cents therefor.

SEC. 7. All civil causes returnable to said town court shall be made returnable to the first or third Monday of any month; provided, that the return day be not more than six weeks from the date of the process, and all process returnable to said town court shall be served at least six days before the return day thereof, except in case of foreign attachment, in which case said process shall be served upon the garnishee at least twelve days before the return day and shall be returned to said court by the officer serving the same on or before Friday of the week preceding the return day; and said actions, when returned to said court, shall be by the clerk thereof entered upon a docket to be kept for that purpose, and said actions may be continued until finally disposed of; nonsuits or defaults may be granted on the return day of said action in case of the non-appearance of either party; provided, that said court may, at any time within thirty days from the granting of any such default or nonsuit, for cause shown and upon such terms as to payment of costs as it may order, reopen such cases in which such nonsuit or default may have been granted, order a stay of execution, if already issued, and thereafter proceed with said case in the same manner as though no such nonsuit or default had been granted. Upon the continuance or adjournment of any cause, civil or criminal, said court may make such orders in relation to recognizances, bonds, or answers as may be deemed proper.

SEC. 8. Said town court shall be legally constituted for the exercise of any of the powers or jurisdiction conferred by this act whenever the judge or deputy judge thereof shall be present at such place as shall be provided as hereinafter directed for the holding of such court; and said court may, by adjournment, sit at such other places within said town as may be deemed necessary or proper for the disposition of the business before it; but the judge of said court shall enter in the records of said court a memorandum of every such adjournment and of the reasons for the same, and of the place to which such adjournment was had.

SEC. 9. There shall be a judge of said town court, to be appointed by the gener embly. He shall take the oath provided by

law for judicial officers, and shall hold his office from the first Monday of the month following his election in 1903, and thereafter, for a term of two years from the first day of July next following his appointment and until another is appointed and sworn in his stead.

SEC. 10. There shall be a deputy judge of said town court, to be appointed by the general assembly, who shall take the oath provided for judicial officers, and who shall hold his office for the term of two years from the first Monday of July next following his appointment and until another is appointed in his stead. Said deputy judge shall, in case of a vacancy in the office of said judge, or in his absence from the town, disqualification, inability, or at his request, act as the judge of said court, and shall, while so acting, have all the powers of said judge. In case of a vacancy in the office of deputy judge during the term for which he may be appointed, the judge of said court may by appointment fill such vacancy for the remainder of such term.

SEC. 11. The judge of said court shall appoint a prosecuting attorney, and an assistant prosecuting attorney to act in the absence from said town, inability, or at the request of the prosecuting attorney, who shall have all the powers of the prosecuting attorney while acting in his stead; each of whom may be removed by said judge for cause, and each of whom shall hold office during the term of the judge appointing him, unless sooner removed, and until his successor is duly appointed and has qualified, and each of whom shall be sworn to a faithful discharge of his duties; and in case of the death or resignation of said prosecuting attorney, or of the assistant prosecuting attorney, the judge of said town court shall appoint his successor, to hold office for the remainder of the official term herein provided. Within the cognizance and jurisdiction of said town court, and as may be provided and restricted by this act, said prosecuting officer shall exercise the same authority and perform the same duties as are now provided by law for state's attorneys in their several counties, but shall not compromise with nor discharge any offender on payment of costs or other sum without the written approval of the judge or deputy judge of said court, and said prosecuting officer shall further have the same powers and authority as are or may hereafter be conferred by law upon grand jurors by the general statutes.

SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney diligently to inquire after, and make due presentment and complaint to said town court of all crimes, misdemeanors, and other criminal matters whereof said court has jurisdiction or cognizance, or wherein said. court may proceed, whether committed before or after his appointment to office; and said attorney shall, exclusively, except when his proper substitute shall act in his stead, have and perform all the duties and exercise all the powers within the limits of said town and of the cognizance of said town court that are by law assigned to and conferred upon grand jurors; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting said court from taking cognizance of any warrant signed by the prosecuting agent or county health officer for

New London county and duly returned to said court, covering an offense committed within said town of Groton and over which said officers have jurisdiction; and the right of said officers to appear and prosecute shall not be abridged.

SEC. 13. Said prosecuting attorney shall collect, in the name of the town of Groton, and by suit when necessary, all forfeited bonds payable to said town, and, by the written consent of said judge or deputy judge, may compromise and settle said forfeited bonds for less than the full amount thereof, and shall pay all sums received by him into the treasury of said town of Groton. And said attorney and assistant attorney may issue subpoenas for witnesses to be sworn before said court in criminal cases. Each shall give bond to the town of Groton, with surety, to the acceptance of the first selectman of said town of Groton, in such sums as he shall fix, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties.

SEC. 14. Said prosecuting attorney of said town court, or said assistant prosecuting attorney when acting in his stead, shall act as clerk of said town court, and as such clerk he shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, and keep the records of said court, and certify the same and copies thereof under the seal of said court, and shall receive all fines and costs paid before commitment, and all fines and costs paid after commitment to the keeper of the jail or other place where the offender is confined shall be paid by such keeper to the clerk on demand. Said clerk shall also draw from the superior court or court of common pleas all sums taxed in them for costs in said town court, in cases coming before said superior court from said town court by binding over process, and in cases coming before said court of common pleas from said town court by appeal or otherwise, including all costs in cases before said town court when the accused shall be discharged for want of probable cause and the offense charged is beyond the jurisdiction of said town court. All fines, costs, and other sums coming into his hands shall be paid by said clerk into the town treasury; provided, that said clerk may pay to persons entitled to costs in any proceeding in said court such costs as of right have accrued to them and have been taxed in their favor, taking their receipt therefor, but shall not pay any costs to any person who shall not demand the same within six months after the same are taxed; and said clerk may draw orders on the town treasury aforesaid for such sums as are necessary to pay all such costs and fees as may be taxed by said court in any criminal case and payable from the town treasury, or may pay the same out of funds of the town in his hands, and costs and fees shall be paid only to those persons in whose favor they may have been taxed, or on their written order.

SEC. 15. No fees for attendance at court, keeping a prisoner, or for assistance in making an arrest, shall be taxed or allowed to any officer serving criminal process, unless said town court shall find that such attendance, keeping, or assistance was necessary; but said court may tax and allow legal fees at its discretion, to any officer making an

arrest, when the accused was apprehended in the act or on the speedy information of others, but no fees shall be taxed for arrest when the offender is already under arrest and in the custody of a constable or police officer or in the lockup. No fees shall be allowed a bystander as a witness before said court, nor shall any person be entitled to receive any fees, unless demand shall be made therefor, or the clerk thereof shall have drawn his order on the town treasury for the same, within thirty days after the same shall become due.

SEC. 16. The clerk of said town court shall account to the treasurer of said town of Groton, monthly, under such regulations as the selectmen of said town shall prescribe, for all moneys received by him under the provisions of this act, and shall pay to said treasurer, within ten days after the time of accounting, any unexpended moneys in his possession belonging to said town. He shall execute a penal bond in the sum of one thousand dollars, with a surety or sureties, satisfactory to the first selectman of said town, payable to said town, and conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty in the care, custody, and accounting for all moneys received by him under the provisions of this act. Said assistant clerk shall execute a penal bond in the sum of five hundred dollars, with a surety or sureties, satisfactory to the first selectman of said town, payable to said town, and conditioned for the faithful performance of his duty in the care, custody, and accounting for all moneys received by him when acting as clerk under the provisions of this act.

SEC. 17. The judge of said town' court shall receive a salary of six hundred dollars per annum, and the deputy judge shall receive three dollars for each day he conducts the trial of causes in said court. The prosecuting attorney shall receive a salary of six hundred dollars per annum, and the assistant prosecuting attorney shall receive a per diem allowance of three dollars for each day that he shall prosecute cases in said court. The salaries and compensation provided for in this section shall be in lieu of all fees whatsoever for the services of said officers arising from their proceedings in said town court, and shall be paid monthly from the treasury of said town of Groton upon the order of the judge of said court.

SEC. 18. The same costs shall be taxed in said town court in all cases of a criminal form or nature as are taxed in similar cases before justices of the peace, except that two dollars docket fee, three dollars for the trial of each case, and one dollar on each appeal shall be allowed, and, if actually engaged more than one day in the trial of such case, two dollars for each day after the first day that said town court is so engaged; but in cases under the liquor laws there shall be added to the .items of costs above provided for the amount of the fees of prosecuting agents as now fixed by law. In all cases brought by said prosecuting agent said fees shall be taxed by the judge of said court, and paid to said prosecuting agent in the same manner as other court expenses. All copies in cases going to the court of common pleas or superior court from said town court by appeal, binding over, or otherwise, shall, with

the additions last mentioned, be taxed the same as in similar cases going to the court of common pleas or superior court in the same manner from justices of the peace. All costs for service of criminal process and witness fees taxed under the provisions of this act and not paid by the accused or otherwise received shall be paid from the treasury of said town of Groton on the order of the clerk of said court.

SEC. 19. Said court may reduce or disallow fees taxable by said court in cases where the negligence of any officer, or the discharge of the accused for the want of sufficient evidence, or the insufficiency of the service rendered, or other circumstances, shall render such reduction or disallowance expedient in the judgment of said court.

SEC. 20. All process issued by said town court shall be signed only by the judge, deputy judge, or prosecuting attorney, or assistant prosecuting attorney duly authorized; subpoenas to procure the attendance of witnesses before said court may be signed by the judge, deputy judge, prosecuting attorney, or assistant prosecuting attorney; bonds or recognizances on the continuance of any case, or on binding over to the superior court, or on appeal to the criminal court of common pleas shall be taken by the judge or deputy judge; and bonds for appearance at said court to answer may be taken by the judge, the deputy judge, the prosecuting attorney, or the assistant prosecuting attorney, but the authority taking such bond for appearance shall note on the file in each case the name of the surety, the amount of the bond, and the date and hour at which the accused is to appear before said court, which entry shall be a part of the file and record of said case. All process issued by said town court shall be served by any proper officer, or an indifferent person when specially directed to such, in the same manner as process issued by any justice of the peace or any other court, and shall be obeyed by any and all persons and officers to whom they shall be directed, or whom they may concern. Neither said judge nor deputy judge shall be disqualified to act in any case from which money by penalty or otherwise may accrue to the town of Groton by reason of his being a resident or taxpayer of said town.

SEC. 21. Whenever any person shall be arraigned before said court for drunkenness, vagrancy, disorderly conduct, or breach of the peace, said court may suspend execution of any judgment concerning him for a specified time or indefinitely, whenever such suspension shall seem to the court reasonable, either by reason of the age of the accused or the circumstances of the case.

SEC. 22. Sureties of the peace and good behavior may be required by said town court in such cases and in such manner as justices of the peace are now authorized by law to require the same. Said court may also require sureties of the peace and good behavior in addition to and in lieu of any penalty imposed by said court in such cases brought by said prosecuting attorney, as provided by this act, whenever a prayer therefor shall be inserted in said complaint and the interests of justice require it.