porteur de contraintes

A legal officer responsible for delivering a court order concerning debts, such as seizure of property or arrest, against a delinquent taxpayer; in particular, one who has violated the gabelle.

“C’était un bien drôle de petit homme que le père Langevin, tailleur et porteur de contraintes au Grand-Fougeray.” — He was quite an odd little man, that Father Langevin, mason and "porteur de contraintes" in Grand-Fougeray

Originally, an ellipsis of legal title "huissier porteur de contrainte des gabelles" ("court server of warrant concerning the gabelle"), with the gabelle being a particularly unpopular and frequently shirked tax on salt in the ancien régime. "Huissier" is itself a further ellipsis of "huissier de justice" ("court usher").