Brigham Young previously suggested incorporating a city under Illinois law. The statute granted towns the “power to declare what shall be considered a nuisance within the limits of the corporation, and to provide for the abatement or removal thereof.” It also likewise authorized the appointment of a town constable “to execute all writs, process and precepts which may be issued against persons for the violation of the laws of the corporation, and to arrest, on view, all persons who may violate such laws.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 22 Mar. 1845; Corporations [3 Mar. 1845], Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois [1844–1845], p. 114, secs. 11 and 12.)

Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois, Adopted by the General Assembly of Said State, at Its Regular Session, Held in the Years, A. D., 1844–’5. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1845.