Note 526 — Book XIV.
John Beames translation
Having already observed, that this part of the Sheriff’s Jurisdiction was taken away by Magna Carta, I shall conclude these Notes with extracting a passage from the Norman Code, from which we may collect most of the various branches of the Sheriff’s Jurisdiction and his duty, in the opinion of the Lawyers of Normandy. Officium autem Vicecomitis est placita tenere: vias antiquas et semitas et limites aperire: aquas vero transmotas ad cursum debitum reducere, et de malefactoribus et seditiosis mulieribus et arsionibus et deflorationibus virginum violentis et ceteris actibus criminosis diligenter et secretè inquirere. (Le Grand Custum. de Norm. c. 4.)