(a) When a coroner has been informed that a person has been killed or suddenly died under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground for belief that such death has been occasioned by the act of another by unlawful means, he must forthwith make inquiry of the facts and circumstances of such death by taking the sworn statement in writing of the witnesses having personal knowledge thereof and submit the same to a judge of a court of record or a district attorney.

(b) If, upon such preliminary inquiry, the judge or district attorney is satisfied from the evidence that there is reasonable ground for believing that such death has been occasioned by the act of another by unlawful means, he must direct the coroner to forthwith summon a jury of six qualified jurors of the county to appear before him forthwith at a specified place and inquire into the cause of such death; but no person shall be liable to serve as a juror more than one time during any one year, and no person shall be paid compensation for services as a juror on more than one inquest during any one year.

(c) When five or more of the jurors appear, they must be sworn to inquire who the person was and when, where and by what means he came to his death, and to render a true verdict thereon according to the evidence offered them or arising from the inspection of the body.

(a) Within 30 days after an inquest on a dead body, the coroner must deliver to the county treasurer any money or other property which may be found on the body, unless claimed in the meantime by the legal representatives of the deceased. If he fails to do so, the treasurer may proceed against him for the amount or value thereof, on 10 days' notice to him and his sureties, or against any of them served therewith and recover the same, with 20 percent damages on the amount or value thereof.

(b) Upon the receipt of the money by the treasurer, he must place it to the credit of the county. If it is other property, he must sell it within three months at the courthouse of the county at public auction, upon reasonable public notice, and in like manner must place the proceeds to the credit of the county.

(c) If such money in the treasury is demanded in six years by the legal representatives of the deceased, the treasurer must pay it to them, after deducting the fees of the coroner, expenses of sale and five percent on the balance for the treasurer, or it may be paid at any time thereafter upon the order of the county commission.

(a) Any surgeon or physician who being duly summoned by the coroner makes a postmortem examination and gives a professional opinion thereon is entitled to receive $5.00, with an additional fee of $.10 for each mile he may be compelled to travel to make such an examination, and such fee shall be paid out of the county treasury upon certificate of the coroner certifying that such services have been rendered.

(b) When any physician or surgeon is summoned by the coroner to perform an autopsy or internal examination, the physician or surgeon performing such an autopsy or internal examination shall be entitled to receive the sum of $25.00, to be paid out of the county treasury upon certificate of the coroner that such service has been rendered; and when an autopsy or internal examination has been performed, the physician or surgeon shall not be paid the $5.00, as provided for an external postmortem examination, but the sum of $25.00 provided for in this subsection shall be the entire amount received for such service.

(c) If the estate of the deceased is solvent, the amount paid by the county under this section shall be recovered from the estate of the deceased.

(a) When a coroner has been informed that a person is dead in the county and that such person died without being attended or examined by a legally qualified physician, the coroner shall forthwith proceed to the place where the dead person is lying, examine the dead body to ascertain the cause of death and report same in the same manner as inquests are reported.

(b) When a coroner is unable to determine the cause of death, he may summon any physician or surgeon, who shall make an external postmortem examination of the dead body and report his opinion of the cause of death to the coroner in writing.

(c) If the surgeon or physician is unable to determine the cause of death from an external postmortem examination and the coroner has reasonable cause to believe that deceased came to his death by unlawful means, the coroner may in such cases order any physician or surgeon to perform an autopsy or internal examination on the dead body, and report the findings of such autopsy to the coroner in writing.

In an inquest under this chapter, the coroner may issue subpoenas for witnesses returnable forthwith or at such time and place as he may appoint. He must summon and examine as a witness any person who, in his opinion or that of any of the jury, has any knowledge of the facts; and he may also summon as a witness a surgeon or physician who must inspect the body in the presence of the jury and give a professional opinion as to the cause of death.

(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.

In an inquest under this chapter, any witness who refuses to answer any question in relation to the cause of death, except on the ground that it may criminate himself, is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be committed to jail by the coroner, unless he gives bail in the sum of $500.00 to appear at the circuit court and answer such offense, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $200.00 nor more than $500.00, and may be imprisoned not exceeding three months.

Coroners shall have the right to administer oaths to persons on preliminary examinations provided for by this chapter.

After inspecting the body and hearing the evidence, a jury summoned under this chapter must render its verdict and certify it by an inquisition in writing signed by it, setting forth who the person is and when, where and by what means he came to his death and, if the death was occasioned by the act of another by unlawful means, who is guilty thereof; but if the person, means or manner of his death or the person by whose act he came to his death are not discovered by the evidence, the inquisition must so state, and if there is no evidence tending to show that the deceased came to his death by the unlawful act of another, the inquisition must also state that fact.

(a) An inquisition taken under this chapter must be returned by the coroner forthwith, together with the written statement under oath taken by him on the preliminary investigation, to the clerk of the circuit court of the county.

(b) The coroner must also require all the material witnesses to enter into an undertaking to appear at the circuit court, if in session, or, if not, at the next session thereof; he may require surety to such undertaking and, on the failure of a witness to enter therein, may commit him until he enters into the same.

(a) If a jury summoned under this chapter finds that the deceased came to his death by the act of another by unlawful means, the coroner may issue a warrant of arrest for such person, which may be executed in the same manner as provided in Chapter 7 of this title.

(b) When arrested, the person must be brought before the district court of the county in which the inquest was held, and the district court judge must proceed to examine the charge and commit, bail or discharge the defendant as upon a warrant of arrest under the provisions of such chapter.