Commit

To send to prison for a crime or for contempt or contumacy; to deliver to the custody of the sheriff or marshal, on surrender by

To intrust to; to confide in. 1. To delegate a duty to a person or persons. See Commission; Committee. 3. To send to a place of confinement a person found to be a lunatic. May contemplate a sending without an adjudication by a court or a magistrate.* See Lunacy. 3. To send to prison a person, charged with or convicted of a crime. Commitment. The act of sending an accused or convicted person to prison; also, the warrant by virtue of which the incarceration is made. " To commit " was regarded as the separate and distinct act of carrying a party to prison, after having taken him into custody by force of a warrant of commitment.* Commitment, Warrant of. Written authority to commit a person to prison or custody, until a, further hearing in the matter as to which he is charged can be had, or until he is discharged by due course of law; a mittimus; a committitur. Committing. Authorized to hear charges of crime, and to discharge or take bail fpr trial before a jury. Committing magistrate. Any (inferior) officer empowered to hear charges of crime and to commit the accused to prison or accept bail for their appearance before a higher ' Brennan v. Perry, 7 Phila. 213 ( 2 [Ralston v. Kohl, 30 Ohio St. 98 (1876), Scott, J. ' Swift V. United States, 18 Ct. CI. 57 (1883). * Cummington «.■ Wareham, 9 Cush. 685 (1852). court; as, a justice of the peace, some aldermen, mayors, and commissioners of bail. If the offense is not bailable, or the party cannot find bail, he is to be committed to the county gaol by the mittimits of the justice, or warrant under his hand and seal, containing the cause of his commitment; there to abide till delivered by due course of law.^ Commitment for crime being only for safe-keeping, when bail will answer the purpose it is generally taken. The warrant is in the name of the State; is under the hand and seal of the magistrate; shows his authority, and the time and place of issue; describes the prisoner by name; specifies the place of confinement, and is directed to the keeper thereof; states that the party has been charged on oath with a particular offense. When the offense is bailable the direction is " to keep in safe custody for want of sureties, or until discharged by due course of law;" when not bailable, " until discharged by due course of law; " and when for further examination of the charge, " tor further hearing." ' See Bail, 1 (2); Capere, Capias, Cepi.

[L. Fr. comaunder.] In practice. To send a person to prison for any crime or contempt. 4 Bl. Com. 295, 300. 1 Tidd's Pr. 479, 481. To deliver a defendant to the custody of the sheriff or marshal, on his surrender by his bail. 1 Tidd's Pr. 285, 287.