65-1-325 - Separate causes of action; jury; judgment.
§ 65-1-325. Separate causes of action; jury; judgment.
(1) Each different property, identified by separate ownership, shall constitute a separate civil action and shall require trial, unless otherwise agreed by all parties with the approval of the court. Trial shall be to a jury of twelve (12), which shall be examined and empaneled in accordance with the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. Alternatively, trial may be to the court as provided by the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2) In the trial of all cases provided for in this article, nine (9) jurors may bring in a verdict as in other civil cases. The verdict of the jury may be in the following form: "We, the jury, find that the defendant(s)________ is/are entitled to just compensation for the acquisition of his/her/their property for the public use in the sum of $________."
(3) Upon the return of the verdict by the jury or court, the court shall enter a judgment as follows, viz: "In this case the claim of (plaintiff name) to have condemned certain lands named in the complaint, to-wit: (here describe the property), being the property of (insert defendants' names) was submitted to a jury (or the court) on the ________ day of ________, A.D. ________, and the jury (or court) having returned a verdict fixing the defendant's just compensation at $________, the verdict was received and entered. Now, upon payment of the award with legal interest from the date of the filing of the complaint, the property is vested in plaintiff by virtue of the judgment entered herein."
Sources: Laws, 1997, ch. 439, § 13, eff from and after July 1, 1997.