BAILIFF (OF. bailiff, Fr. bailli, adminis trator, Low Lat. bailirus, from Lallans, carrier, one who carries burdens, takes charge of ). An officer exercising superintendence on behalf of some superior authority. Through all the changes of application the word has undergone in the course of history, it has denoted an overseer of some kind. At the Greek Imperial court »I Constantinople, the chief tutor of the imperial children was called baiu/as. The same title seems also to have been given in Constantinople to the superintendent of the foreign merchants, who was appointed by the Venetians, and it may possibly be for this reason that the title balio came at length to be applied also to the Venetian ambassadors themselves. In rrance, the royal baillis were at one time commanders of the troops, administrators of the royal domains, and judges, each one in his district. Proprietors of estates, also, possessing supreme jurisdiction, appointed baillis to superintend their courts of justice. As very little knowledge was required for these situ ations, and as they might be purchased, they were held in little estimation : and in later times, the buillis became standing characters on the stage. held up to ridicule on account of their ignorance and their absurd pretensions, as well as for cheating and injustice.
In the law, the term bailiff means: (a) a su perior servant or agent, in which sense the term is synonymous with steward or factor: and (b) an officer of the court, a tipstaff, a sheriff's officer or deputy. Its first application is to a person employed in the administration and charge of lands, goods, or chattels, to make the best benefit for the owner. The bailiff is liable in an action
of account for the profits which he has raised or made, or which be might, by proper industry and care, have raised or made. The term is not in general use in American law.
In the second sense in the English law, bailiffs may be either officers appointed by the judges of certain courts, or. in more modern times. officers appointed over their respective districts by the sheriff to perform certain duties, including the service of process of arrest, collection of fines, and summoning of juries. The sheriff being an for their misdemeanors, they are usu ally bound in an obligation with sureties for the due execution of their office, and were called bound bailiffs. Rpecial bailiffs are officers ap pointed by the sheriff on the application of a party in a civil suit for some particular purpose, and the slicritT is not held responsible for their acts in this regard. In the United States. the term bailiff is seldom used, the corresponding officer being the deputy or undersheriff. Deputies are of two classes: (1) general deputies, or those who by virtue of their appointment have author ity to execute all the ordinary duties pertaining to the sheriff's office: and (2) special deputies, or officers pro bee rice, to execute particular pro cesses for a special purpose. The practices in the various States are similar in regard to these matters. See SHERIFF.