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Miss. Code Ann. § 13-5-45

Foreman to be appointed and all to be sworn

Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 416 So. 2d 383 - Johnson v. State (1982)

Most recently applied in 819 So. 2d 542 - Gray v. State (December 2001)

Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 61, art. 1 (128); 1857, ch. 61, art. 130; 1871, § 731; 1880, § 1666; 1892, § 2372; 1906, § 2701; Hemingway’s 1917, § 2194; 1930, § 2047; 1942, § 1780.

How often courts cite this section

198119902000200110
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

The court shall appoint one of the grand jurors to be foreman of the grand jury, to whom the following oath shall be administered in open court, in the presence of the rest of the grand jurors, to wit:

“You, as foreman of this grand inquest, shall diligently inquire into, and true presentment make, of all such matters and things as shall be given you in charge, or otherwise come to your knowledge, touching the present service. The counsel of the state, your fellows, and your own you will keep secret. You shall not present any person through malice, hatred or ill will, nor shall you leave any person unpresented through fear, favor or affection, or for any reward, hope or promise thereof, but in all your presentments, you shall present the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, to the best of your skill and understanding. So help you God.”

And the following oath shall be administered to the other jurors, to wit:

“The same oath that your foreman has now taken before you on his part, you, and each of you, shall well and truly observe, and keep on your respective parts. So help you God.”

Current official text: Mississippi Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Mississippi statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.