Section 139. Discharge on application of taxpayer

Where a person has been
  arrested by virtue of an execution  issued  upon  a  judgment  of  fifty
  dollars  or  under,  and  has been kept imprisoned at the expense of the
  county for six months or over, the court  out  of  which  the  execution
  issued  may, on the application of a taxpayer of the county to which the
  support is chargeable, and upon due proof of the service upon the person
  in whose favor such execution was issued, of a notice in writing of  the
  time  when  and the place where such application is to be made, at least
  eight days before the making thereof  discharge  the  prisoner,  and  it
  shall be the duty of the sheriff to forthwith release him from custody.