Ground Writ

By the English common-law procedure act of 1852 (chapter 121), "it shall not be necessary to issue any writ directed to the sheriff of the county in which the venue is laid, but writs of execution may issue at once into any county, and be directed to and executed by the sheriff of any county, whether a county palatine or not, without reference to the county in which the venue is laid, and without any suggestion of the issuing of a prior writ into such county." Before this enactment, a ea. sa. or fi. fa. could not be issued into a county different from that in which the venue in the action was laid, without first issuing a writ, called a "ground writ," into the latter county, and then another writ, which was called a "testatum writ," into the former. The above enactment abolished this useless process.

Wharton.