§ 18-15-706 — Issuance of writ - Inquiry by jury

(a) (1) On filing the petition, it shall be the duty of the court to cause a writ of ad quod damnum to be issued under the seal of the court. (2) The writ shall be directed to the sheriff, commanding him or her to summon twelve (12) fit persons of his or her county to meet at the place where the mill is proposed to be erected or the land overflowed, on a day named in the writ. (3) Then and there, it shall be the duty of the court to inquire by the jury, touching the matter contained in the petition, a copy of which shall accompany the writ. (b) It shall be the duty of the sheriff to attend with the jury on the day and at the place appointed, and upon full examination and inquiry by the jury, it shall find: (1) What will be the amount of damage to each proprietor by reason of inundation consequent upon the erection of the dam as proposed; (2) Whether the dwelling of any proprietor or the outhouses, curtilages, or gardens thereunto immediately belonging, or orchard, will be overflowed thereby; (3) Whether, and to what extent, ordinary navigation and the passage of fish will be obstructed by the erection, and whether and by what means the obstructions may be prevented or diminished; and (4) Whether the health of the neighborhood will be materially endangered in consequence of the erection. (c) The inquest of the jury shall be reduced to writing and, after being signed by each member of the jury, shall be returned by the sheriff together with the writ, and a statement of the manner in which he or she executed it, into the court which issued it, without delay. Rev. Stat., ch. 98, §§ 7, 8,11; C. & M. Dig., §§ 3949, 3950, 3953; Pope's Dig., §§ 4951, 4952, 4955; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 35-507, 35-508, 35-511.