13-3-37 - Sheriff to mark and return process.
§ 13-3-37. Sheriff to mark and return process.
The sheriff shall mark on all process the day of the receipt thereof by him, and he shall return the same promptly and in any event within the time during which the person served must respond to the process, with a written statement of his proceedings thereon, and of his fees, for serving it. For failing to note the time of the receipt of process, or for failing to return the same, the sheriff shall forfeit to the party aggrieved the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), and shall be liable for all damages, and the court may enforce return of the process by fine and imprisonment for contempt. Whenever a sheriff of any county shall receive from another county any writ or other process directed to him, he shall not be liable for a failure to return the same to the county from which the same was issued if he shall show to the court that he mailed the same in the post office, directed to the clerk of the court by whom the same was issued, at least two (2) days before the sitting of the court to which the same was returnable.
Sources: Codes, 1857, ch. 61, art. 63; 1871, § 700; 1880, § 1526; 1892, § 3429; 1906, § 3928; Hemingway's 1917, § 2935; 1930, § 2981; 1942, § 1862; Laws, 1991, ch. 573, § 97, eff from and after July 1, 1991.