Chap. 349.—An ACT to amegg and re-enact sections 1, 4, and 9, of
chapter 197, and section 14 of"thapter 180 of the Code of 1873, in re-
ference to Coroners’ Juries and the Pay thereof, and of Coroners.

Approved March 31, 1875.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That sections
one, four, and nine of chapger one hundred and ninety-seven,
and section fourteen of chapter one hundred and eighty,
Code of eighteen bundred and seventy-three, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows: }

§ 1. Upon notice of a death supposed to have been caused.
by violence, and not by casualty, the coroner of the city of
Richmond, if the dead body be in the penitentiary, and in
any other case the coroner of the county or corporation in
which the dead body is, shall issue a warrant to the follow-
ing effect:
county (or corporation of) to-wit: To the sheriff
(or sergeant), or any constable of county (or the cor-
poration of ): You are required to summon six jurors
of the county (or corporation) of to attend before me,
a coroner of said county (or corporation) at the dwelling
house of (or at a place called ————), in said county
(or corporation), at the house of , to enquire.upon the
view of the body ot (or a person unknown)
there lying dead, when, how, and by what means he came to
his death. Given under my hand this day of
, coroner.

§ 4. If six jurors do not attend, the coroner may require
the officer, or any other person, to summon others. When
the full number of six shall have appeared, the coroner, in
view of the body, shall administer to them the following
oath: You swear that you will diligently enquire, and true
presentment make, when, how, and by what means the per-
son whose body here lies dead came to his death, and return
a true inquest thereof, upon your own knowledge and the
evidence before you. So help you God.

§ 9. If the dead persor be a stranger, whether an inquest
be taken, or the coroner called to view the body thinks it
unnecessary to have an inquest, he shall cause tho body to be
decently buried. If the coroner certify that he believes the
deceased has not sufficient estate in this state to pay the ex-
penses of the burial,-the coroner’s fees, and the expenses of
the inquest (if one was taken), including the pay of the ju-
rors a3 hereinafter provided for, they shall, when allowed by

the court of the coroner’s county or corporation, be paid out
of the treasury. In other cases, all such charges shall be
paid out of the estate of the deceased, or if the estate be in-
sufficient, by the county or corporation aforesaid, unless the
inquest be on the body of a convict in the penitentiary, in
which case the same shall be paid out of the treasury after
being allowed by the executive. Jurors who shall serve on
a coroner’s inquest shall be entitled to receive one dollar for
such service, to be paid as the other expenses of inquest are
herein above directed to be paid.

§ 14. A coroner shall have, for Aking an inquest on a dead
body, three dollars, except where the coroner is a physician
and actually makes an examination of the dead body, in
which case his fee shall be five dollars; and a constable for
summoning a coroner’s jury and the witnesses, one and a half
dollars. A constable shall bave for removing a person by
virtue of a warrant issued under chapter fifty-one, by a justice
or one of the overseers of the poor (to be charged to said
overseers), four cents for each mile of necessary travel, either
in going or returning; for serving a warrant under chapter
done hundred and forty-seven, or taking a bond, or giving a
notice thereon, thirty cents; but the fee for summoning a
witness, or a garnishee on an attachment, shall only be
twenty cents; for other services not otherwise provided for,
a coroner and constable shall have the same fees as a sheriff
or sergeant for similar services.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.