Claim and Delivery

Miss. Code Ann. tit. 11, ch. 38
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 11-38-1 Commencement of action.

Any person with an enforceable lien on any personal property, or right to the immediate possession thereof, or who asserts that such property has been wrongfully taken or detained may bring an action for claim and delivery by filing a complaint in writing, under oath, describing the property, setting forth his claim, share or interest therein, attaching an itemized account, if required, and giving the names of any other persons who have a similar or other claims or interests in such property. Thereupon the clerk or justice shall issue a writ directed to the proper officer to value the property, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the plaintiff’s demand and cost, and to summon the persons named in the affidavit to appear in court, at the time fixed, to answer the complaint.

Miss. Code Ann. § 11-38-3 Venue; issuance and return of process; jurisdiction of court; right to jury trial.

The action for claim and delivery may be instituted in the circuit or county court of a county, or the justice court of a county, in which the defendant, or one (1) of several of them, resides or where the property, or some of it, may be found. Proper process shall issue to other counties and shall be made returnable to the first term of the court held after the issuance of said writ unless it shall be issued more than ten (10) days before the said term of court, when it may be returnable to the judge of the court at the usual place of holding the court at a day to be named, not more than ten (10) days or less than five (5) days after the date of the issuance of the writ, or before the judge in vacation, and the cause will be triable, provided the defendant has been served with process at least five (5) days before the return day of the writ. The judge shall have jurisdiction to hear the cause, or any matter pertaining thereto, in termtime or vacation, at such time and place as he may direct, and to enter such orders and judgment thereon as to adjust the rights of the parties in the subject matter; and all such cases shall be tried by the judge without the intervention of a jury unless a jury is demanded in the complaint or answer.

Miss. Code Ann. § 11-38-5 Preliminary hearing.

The clerk or justice issuing the writ may also, by a separate summons, require the parties to appear before him for a preliminary hearing to determine the rights of the parties to immediate possession of the property involved, at a time and place fixed in the summons, but shall allow the defendant not less than two (2) days’ notice. At the preliminary hearing the clerk or justice shall determine whether the temporary possession of the property is to be delivered to the plaintiff, retained by the defendant, or whether the proper officer shall seize and hold the property until a hearing on the merits to determine what bond, if any, should be required. An appropriate writ shall thereupon be issued for the enforcement of the temporary order. Upon written demand of either party the clerk, when the action is before a clerk of the court, shall refer the action for such preliminary hearing before any justice of the county or the judge of the court from which the process was issued. If temporary possession be granted to the plaintiff, the bond shall be for double the value of the property, and if temporary possession be granted to the defendant and bond be required, it shall be for not less than double the value of the plaintiff’s interest therein. Preliminary hearings may be determined by the justice or judge designated without regard to jurisdictional amount.

Miss. Code Ann. § 11-38-7 Answer; judgment.

The defendant, or any interested person, may contest the demand of the plaintiff on or before the return day of the writ by filing an answer in writing, under oath, of his claim or defense, itemizing his account, if any, and the case shall be then at issue between the parties, and shall be tried as other cases in the court. The judgment or judgments of the court shall adjudicate and adjust the rights of the several parties as to the subject matter of the suit, and costs may be adjudged accordingly.

Miss. Code Ann. § 11-38-9 Claim and delivery cumulative and additional to other actions.

The action created and established by this chapter shall be cumulative and in addition to all other actions presently available at law or in equity.

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