Legal Definitions - fieri feci

Fieri feci is a historical legal term that refers to an official report made by a sheriff to a court. This report indicates that the sheriff has successfully collected, either in full or in part, the money or assets that a court ordered to be seized or paid from a debtor.

Essentially, when a court issues an order (historically called a fieri facias) instructing a sheriff to collect a judgment debt, and the sheriff manages to collect some or all of that money, the sheriff's formal notification back to the court confirming this collection is known as a "fieri feci" return. In modern legal practice, this return is often simply stated as "satisfied" or "partially satisfied."

• Example 1: Business Debt Collection

  Imagine a small business, "Bright Ideas Marketing," owes a printing company $15,000 for services rendered. After Bright Ideas fails to pay, the printing company sues and wins a court judgment. The court then issues an order for the sheriff to collect the debt. The sheriff investigates, seizes some office equipment from Bright Ideas, sells it at auction, and recovers $10,000. The sheriff would then file a fieri feci return with the court, indicating that $10,000 of the judgment has been collected. This illustrates the term because the sheriff successfully collected a portion of the sum ordered by the court.

• Example 2: Personal Judgment for Damages

  Sarah wins a court case against her neighbor for $5,000 in damages caused to her property. The court issues an order for the sheriff to collect this amount. The sheriff successfully garnishes the neighbor's bank account for the full $5,000. The sheriff's official report back to the court, confirming that the entire $5,000 judgment has been collected, would be a fieri feci return. This demonstrates the term's application when the full amount of a court-ordered debt is recovered.

• Example 3: Partial Recovery from Assets

  A contractor is ordered by a court to pay $20,000 to a client for breach of contract. The sheriff is tasked with collecting this sum. After searching for assets, the sheriff locates and sells a piece of the contractor's machinery, which yields $12,000. The sheriff then files a fieri feci return, informing the court that $12,000 of the judgment has been collected, even though the full $20,000 was not recovered. This example highlights that a fieri feci return applies even when only a partial amount of the court-ordered sum is successfully collected.