Research

Scope and Content Note

The precept is a writ commanding a sheriff to arrest a judgment debtor and imprison him until he pays the costs of an action for which he has been taxed and has refused to pay. Each precept bears instructions to the sheriff as to the amount to be collected. The sheriff's return sometimes states whether the defendant was found or not, and whether the judgment was satisfied. The series also includes a few precipes, or instructions to a court clerk to make out a writ. These are short statements of the title of a cause, kind of writ required, and the form of action. Certain provisions relating to precepts for costs are found in legislation of 1840, but there is no section of the Revised Statutes of 1829 relating specifically to this process.