CHAPTER III.

COMMENCEMENT OF SUITS.

Actions at law are commenced by filing a complaint with the Clerk of the Court.

At any time after the action is commenced the plaintiff may cause a summons to be served on the defendant.

The summons must contain the name of the Court in which the complaint is filed, the names of the parties to the action, and the title thereof; it must be subscribed by the plaintiff or his attorney, and directed to the defendant, and require him to appear and answer the complaint, or the plaintiff will take judgment for a sum specified therein.

If the defendant be served within the county in which the action is commenced, he must appear and answer the complaint within ten days from the date of the service; but if served in any other county in the State, he must appear and answer the complaint within twenty days from the date of service.

CHAPTER IV.

PLACE OF TRIAL OF CIVIL ACTIONS.

Actions for the recovery of real property, or an estate, or interest therein, or for injury thereto, and for the recovery of any personal property distrained for any cause, shall be commenced and tried in the county in which the subject of the action, or some part thereof, is situated.

In all other cases the action shall be commenced and tried in the county in which the defendants or either of them reside, or may be found at the commencement of the action. If none of the parties reside in this State, the same may be tried in any county which the plaintiff may designate in his complaint.

CHAPTER V.

LIMITATION OF ACTIONS.

The periods prescribed for the commencement of actions are as follows:

Within Twenty Years:

Actions for the recovery of real property, or for the recovery of the possession thereof.

Within Ten Years:

Actions upon a judgment or decree of any Court of the United States, or of any State or Territory within the United States. Actions upon sealed instruments.

Within Six Years:

An action upon a contract or liability, express or implied, excepting those already mentioned.

An action upon a liability created by statute, other than a penalty or forfeiture.

An action for waste or trespass upon real property.

An action for taking, detaining or injuring personal property, including an action for the specific recovery thereof.

Within Three Years:

An action against a Sheriff, Constable, or Coroner, upon a liability incurred by the doing of an act in his official capacity, or by the omission of an official duty; but this does not apply to an action for an escape.

An action upon a statue for a penalty or forfeiture.

Within Two Years:

An action for libel, slander, assault, battery, or false imprisonment; for criminal conversation, or for an injury to the person or rights of another not arising on contract.

An action upon a statute for a forfeiture or penalty to the State.

Within one Year:

An action against a Sheriff or other officer for the escape of a prisoner arrested or imprisoned on civil process.

An action for any cause not herein before provided for shall be commenced within ten years after the cause of action accrued.

CHAPTER VI.

ATTACHMENTS.

The plaintiff, at the time of issuing the summons, or at any time afterward, may have the property of the defendant attached, by filing with the Clerk of the Court an undertaking, with one or more sureties, to the amount for which the plaintiff demands judgment, and not less than $100; and the plaintiff, or some one in his behalf, making and filing an affidavit showing:

1. That the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff, (specifying the amount of such indebtedness, over and above all legal set-offs or counter-claims) upon a contract, express or implied, for the direct payment of money, and that such contract was made or is payable in this State, and that the payment of the same has not been secured by any mortgage, lien, or pledge upon real or personal property; or,

2. That the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff, (specifying the amount of such indebtedness, as near as may be, over and above all legal set-offs or counter-claims) and that the defendant is a non-resident of the State; and,

3. That the sum for which the attachment is asked is an actual bona fide existing debt, due and owing from the defendant to the plaintiff, and that the attachment is not sought, and the action prosecuted to hinder, delay or defraud any creditors of the defendant.

CHAPTER VII.

ARRESTS IN CIVIL ACTIONS.

The defendant may be arrested in the following cases:

In an action for the recovery of money or damages on a cause of action arising out of contract, when the defendant is not a resident of the State, or is about to remove therefrom; or when the action is for an injury to person or character, or for injuring or wrongfully taking, detaining, or converting property. In an action for a fine or penalty, or on a promise to marry, or for money received, or property embezzled or fraudulently misapplied or converted to his own use by a public officer, or an attorney, officer, or agent of a corporation, factor, agent or broker, or other person in a fiduciary capacity. In an action to recover the possession of any personal property unjustly detained, when the property or any portion thereof has been concealed, removed, or disposed of.

When the defendant has been guilty of a fraud in contracting the debt or incurring the obligation for which the action is brought. When the defendant has removed or disposed of his property, or is about to do so, with intent to defraud his creditors.

No female can be arrested in any action, except for an injury to person, character, or property.