Definition
A writ or mandate directed to a sheriff commanding him to deliver to his successor the county and its appurtenances — including the rolls, briefs, remembrances, and all other records and materials belonging to the office. The writ functioned as a formal mechanism of administrative transfer when a sheriff's term ended or when a new sheriff was appointed, ensuring continuity of the office and accountability for its records.
Why It Matters in Research
ANDIS is a term of historical English practice with no modern American counterpart. Researchers will encounter it only in early common law sources and in historical legal dictionaries that drew from English writ practice. The writ belongs to the body of original writs catalogued in the Registrum Brevium (Reg. Orig.), and its relevance today is almost entirely confined to research into the mechanics of early sheriffs' offices, the law of public records, or the succession of county administration in English legal history.
The near-identical entries in Black's and Rapalje & Lawrence both trace to the same source — Reg. Orig. 295 — suggesting neither dictionary drew on independent authority. Researchers should treat this as a single-source term and consult the Registrum Brevium directly for any substantive inquiry. The Rapalje & Lawrence entry appends cross-references to BREWER and BREWHOUSE WITH APPURTENANCES that are unrelated to ANDIS itself; these appear to be artifacts of alphabetical proximity in the original source and should be disregarded.
Because the term has no statutory or judicial life in American law, it will not appear in case reporters or codified law. It surfaces occasionally in historical and comparative treatments of sheriffs' duties and in scholarship on the English writ system.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary and Rapalje & Lawrence are in complete agreement on the definition of ANDIS, reproducing substantially the same text and citing the same authority. Neither entry elaborates on the procedural context in which the writ issued, the consequences of non-compliance, or how the transfer was practically accomplished. Both treat the term descriptively rather than analytically. Historical sources are silent on any American reception of this writ, and no distinct American practice appears to have developed under this name. The term should be understood as belonging to English writ procedure and treated accordingly when encountered in historical research.