Other judicial warrants may be briefly adverted to. The escape warrant is issued for the recapture of prisoners who have escaped from custody. The warrant of commitment is the process by which a court directs a ministerial officer to take a person to prison either before or after trial. Orders directing the execution of an offender are known as death warrants, commonly issued by the governor of the State. In some States their issuance is by statute a prerequisite to the execution of the death sentence; in others the pronouncement of the sentence in open court is sufficient authority for its execution. The landlord's warrant is directed by a landlord to a constable to levy upon the goods of his tenant and sell them in order to constrain the latter to pay the rent. Under the Federal Bankruptcy Act of 1898, Section 69, a judge may issue a warrant to a marshal authorizing him to seize the property of a bankrupt upon proof that the latter is neglecting his property or allowing it to deteriorate. A tax warrant is the au thority under which a collector is authorized to collect taxes.
Numerous other warrants of a financial or commercial nature are also known to the American law. The term warrant is used to
apply to an order or draft for the payment of an indebtedness. School warrants thus issue for the payment of an indebtedness incurred by a school board or district. Like a check or draft it is a conditional payment of the debt. Similarly there are municipal warrants, treasury warrants, State warrants, reclamation war rants, dividend or interest warrants of private corporations. Land warrants are transferable certificates issued by the Government entitling the holder to a specific tract of public land. A warrant of attorney is a writing addressed to one or more attorneys author izing them to appear in court in behalf of the person who gives the warrant and confess judgment in favour of some particular person named in the warrant. They are commonly used to facili tate the collection of negotiable instruments and such a provision authorizing the confession of judgment on the note is commonly appended to the negotiable instrument. Some States by statute prohibit judgments by such confession. (J. M. LA.)