95-3-13 - Trial; evidence; costs; permanent injunction.
§ 95-3-13. Trial; evidence; costs; permanent injunction.
The action when brought shall be triable at the next term of court, provided process shall have been served for twenty or more days, otherwise at the following term, and said cause shall have precedence over all other cases except election contests, or injunctions. In such action evidence of the general reputation of the place, or an admission, or finding, of guilt of any person under the criminal laws against prostitution, lewdness, or assignation at any such place shall be admissible for the purpose of proving the existence of said nuisance and shall be prima facie evidence of such nuisance and of knowledge of and acquiescence and participation therein on the part of the person or persons charged with maintaining said nuisance as herein defined. If the complaint is filed by a person who is citizen of the county, it shall not be dismissed except upon a sworn statement by the complainant and his or its attorney, setting forth the reasons why the actions should be dismissed and the dismissal approved by the district attorney or county attorney in writing or in open court. If the court be of the opinion that the action ought not to be dismissed, he may direct the district attorney or county attorney to prosecute said action to final decree, and if the action is continued more than one term of court any person who is a citizen of the county, or the attorney general, or the district attorney, or the county attorney, may be substituted for the complainant and prosecute said action to final decree. If the action is brought by a person who is a citizen of the county and the court finds that there were no reasonable grounds or cause for said action, the costs may be taxed to such person. If the existence of the nuisance be established upon the trial, a judgment shall be entered which shall perpetually enjoin the defendants and other person or persons from further maintaining the nuisance at the place complained of, and the defendants from maintaining such nuisance elsewhere within the chancery district, and may tax said defendants with all costs of the proceedings.
Sources: Codes, Hemingway's 1921 Supp, § 2790e; 1930, § 2874; 1942, § 1066; Laws, 1918, ch. 193.