Under the Const. of 1879, the Court of Appeal was without authority to review the facts of a case involving less than five hundred dollars except as they were presented by a statement of facts prepared according to law or by bills of exception where the admissibility of evidence was involved, and where a case was tried and fully submitted in the trial court before the adoption of the Const. of 1898, the Court of Appeal could not consider the case except in the manner provided by Const., 1898. Rosetta Gravel P. & I. Co. vs. Kennedy, etc., 51 An. 1635. Where a case involving less than $500 was pending in the Court of Appeal for the Parish of Orleans, when the Constitution of 1898 went into effect, it must, if the evidence upon which it had been tried had not been taken down in writing, and no statement of fact could be agreed on by the parties, be remanded to the District Court for a second trial, so that the testimony may be taken down in writing, and the court, on a second appeal, be in a position to discharge its constitutional duty of adjudging the facts as well as the law of the case. Cassard vs. Tracy; same vs. Zachary (consolidated), 52 An. 835. (The court draws the distinction between articles of the Constitution, which act prospectively or retrospectively with full citation of authority.)

[Appeals to Courts of Appeal Regulated by Rules Regulating Appeals to Supreme Court-Courts of Appeal May Issue Writs of Habeas Corpus.]

Art. 104. The rules of practice regulating appeals to and proceedings in the Supreme Court shall apply to appeals and proceedings in the Courts of Appeal, so far as they may be applicable, until otherwise provided. The Courts of Appeal, and each of the judges thereof, shall have power to issue the writ of habeas corpus at the instance of any person in actual custody within their respective circuits.

They shall also have authority to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, and certiorari, in aid of their appellate jurisdiction.

Const., 1879, Arts. 103, 104.

[Salary of Judges of Courts of Appeal and How They Are Paid.]

Art. 105. The several judges of the Courts of Appeal, as constituted under the Constitution of 1879, shall each receive a salary of four thousand dollars per annum, payable monthly on his own warrant.

Const., 1879, Art. 105.

[Duty of Sheriff to Attend Court of Appeal, etc.]

Art. 106. The sheriff of the parish in which the sessions of the court are held shall attend in person, or by deputy, to execute the orders of the court.

Const, 1879, Art. 106.

See Acts 25, 1900, and 22, 1902. Attendance of sheriffs, etc., printed at p. 1756

DISTRICT COURTS.

[Division of State Into Judicial Districts-Number of Districts.]

Art. 107. The State shall be divided into not less than twenty nor more than twenty-nine judicial districts, the parish of Orleans excepted.

Until otherwise provided by law, there shall be twenty-nine districts.

Const., 1845, Title IV, Art. 75. The Const. of 1852, like that of 1812, left the Legislature free to establish such inferior courts as were deemed necessary, the former only providing that they be elected by the people (Const., 1852, Title IV, Arts. 81, 82). Const., 1864, Title V, Art. 78, provides that all judges shall be appointed by the Governor. Const., 1868, Title IV, Art. 83; Const., 1879, Art. 107.

[Territorial Composition of Judicial Districts-Country Parishes.]

Art. 108. The parish of Caddo shall compose the first district.

The parishes of Bossier and Webster shall compose the second district.

The parishes of Claiborne and Bienville shall compose the third district.

The parishes of Union and Lincoln shall compose the fourth district.

The parishes of Caldwell, Jackson, and Winn shall compose the fifth district.

The parishes of Ouachita and Morehouse shall compose the sixth district.

The parishes of West Carroll and Richland shall compose the seventh district.

The parishes of Franklin and Catahoula shall compose the eighth district.

The parishes of Madison and East Carroll shall compose the ninth district.

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas shall compose the tenth district.

The parishes of Natchitoches and Red River shall compose the eleventh district.

The parishes of DeSoto, Sabine, and Vernon shall compose the twelfth district.

The parishes of Rapides and Grant shall compose the thirteenth district.

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose the fourteenth district.

The parishes of Calcasieu and Cameron shall compose the fifteenth district.

The parish of St. Landry shall compose the sixteenth district.

The parish of Vermilion shall compose the seventeenth district.

The parishes of Acadia and Lafayette shall compose the eighteenth district.

The parishes of Iberia and St. Martin shall compose the nineteenth district.

The parishes of Terrebonne and Lafourche shall compose the twentieth district.

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton Rouge, and Pointe Coupee shall compose the twenty-first district.

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall compose the twentysecond district.

The parish of St. Mary shall compose the twenty-third district.

The parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana shall compose the twenty-fourth district.

The parishes of St. Helena, Livingston, and Tangipahoa shall compose the twenty-fifth district.

The parishes of Washington and St. Tanımany shall compose the twenty-sixth district.

The parishes of Ascension, St. James, and Assumption shall compose the twenty-seventh district.

The parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Jef ferson shall compose the twenty-eighth district.

The parishes of St. Bernard and Plaquemines shall compose the twenty-ninth district.

[Salaries of Judges and How Paid, etc.]

The judges of the first, sixth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twenty-seventh, and twentyeighth districts shall each receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, and the judges of the second, third, fourth,

ninth, fourteenth, eighteenth, twenty-first, twenty-fourth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-ninth districts shall each receive a salary of two thousand five hundred dollars; the judges of the fifth, seventh, eighth, and seventeenth districts shall each receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum; such salaries to be paid monthly on their own warrants. Provided, that if the General Assembly at any time reduces the number of districts, as herein fixed, it shall have the right to regrade the salaries of the judges, but in no case shall any judge receive a salary in excess of three thousand dollars per annum.

Const., 1879, Art. 108.

Election, Qualification, Term of Office, etc., of Judges of District Courts.]

Art. 109. The District Courts, except in the Parish of Orleans, shall have original jurisdiction in all civil matters where the amount in dispute shall exceed fifty dollars, exclusive of interest, and in all cases where title to real estate is involved, or to office, or other public position, or civil or political rights, and all other cases where no specific amount is in contest, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. They shall have unlimited and exclusive original jurisdiction in all criminal cases, except such as may be vested in other courts authorized by this Constitution; and in all probate and succession matters, and where a succession is a party defendant; and in all cases where the State, parish, any municipality or other political corporation, is a party defendant, regardless of the amount in dispute; and of all proceedings for the appointment of receivers or liquidators to corporations or partnerships; and said courts shall have authority to issue all such writs, process and orders as may be necessary or proper for the purposes of the jurisdiction herein conferred upon them. There shall be one district judge in each judicial district, except in the twenty-first judicial district, where, until otherwise provided by law, there shall be two district judges, who shall not be residents of the same parish. District judges shall be elected by a plurality of the qualified voters of their respective districts, in which they shall have been actual residents for two years next preceding their election; provided, one year's residence only in the district shall be required for the first election under this Constitution. They shall be

learned in the law, and shall have practiced law in the State five years previous to their election.

The first district judges under, this Constitution shall be elected at the general State election in 1900, and shall hold office until their successors are elected at the election on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1904, at which time, and every four years thereafter, district judges shall be elected for terms of four years.

Vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Const., 1845, Title IV, Arts. 76, 77, 78; Const., 1868, Title IV, Art. $5; Const., 1879, Art. 109.

A contest for municipal office to which no salary is attached is nevertheless within the jurisdiction of the District Court, as under the constitutional provision (Art. 111, 1879), "we are not able to reach the conclusion that the jurisdictional test of amount shall be so construed as to close the courts to all suitors asserting rights of an important character, though not susceptible of pecuniary estimate." State ex rel. Mouton vs. Judge, 49 An. 1535, citing State er rel. Mayor vs. Judge, 35 An. 637; Rowley vs. Rowley, 19 La. 340; State ex rel. Custodian, etc., vs. Theard, 45 An. 681; Sheriff, etc., vs. President, etc., et al., 46 An. 278. The opinion was rendered on application for writs of mandamus and certiorari, and the jurisdiction of the lower court sustained. Quaere-to what court did appeal lie; the Supreme Court or Circuit Court of Appeal! See Art. 133, Civil District Court, Orleans and annotation. See Art. 143 and annotation.

[Number of District Judges in Any District Not To Be Increased by Legislature.]

Art. 110. The General Assembly shall not have power to increase the number of district judges in any district.

Const., 1879, Art. 110, provided that the General Assembly shall have power to increase, etc.

[Appellate Jurisdiction, District Courts-Trials Are De Novo.] Art. 111. The District Courts shall have jurisdiction of appeals from justices of the peace in all civil matters, regardless of the amount in dispute, and from all orders requiring a peace bond. Persons sentenced to a fine or imprisonment, by Mayors or Recorders, shall be entitled to an appeal to the District Court of the parish, upon giving security for fine and costs of court, and in such cases trial shall be de novo and without juries.

Const., 1879, Art. 111.

There is no right of trial by jury in the District Court hearing cases on appeal from courts of justice of the peace. State ex rel. Neyland vs. Judge, 50 An. 445.