If a sheriff or other officer designedly absents himself from his court, the presiding judge or justice, when required by plaintiffs in execution or their attorneys, shall grant a rule absolute against the sheriff or other officer without the notice provided for in Code Section 15-13-4 unless it is proved at such term of the court that the sheriff or other officer, from sickness, is not able to attend the court.
(Laws 1841, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 579; Code 1863, § 3859; Code 1868, § 3879; Code 1873, § 3955; Code 1882, § 3955; Civil Code 1895, § 4777; Civil Code 1910, § 5349; Code 1933, § 24-212.)