Section 15-4-4
Service of subpoenas; proceedings against defaulting witnesses; endorsement as presumptive evidence of default.
(a) In an inquest under this chapter, the sheriff or any constable must serve subpoenas for witnesses or they may be served by the coroner.
(b) If any witness, being subpoenaed, fails to attend, the coroner must endorse on the subpoena his default, sign his name thereto and return the same to the clerk of the circuit court of the county within five days thereafter, and such witness must be proceeded against in such court, in the name of the state, as if he were a defaulter therein, the endorsement of the coroner being presumptive evidence of the default.
(Code 1852, §815; Code 1867, §4366; Code 1876, §3994; Code 1886, §4804; Code 1896, §4927; Code 1907, §7165; Code 1923, §4560; Code 1940, T. 15, §79.)