Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 13-5-71 (2026)
Oath of petit jurors
✓ current as of July 2026
Petit jurors shall be sworn in the following form:
"You, and each of you, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will well and truly try all issues and execute all writs of inquiry that may be submitted to you, or left to your decision by the court, during the present term, and true verdicts give according to the evidence. So help you God."
The oath shall authorize the jury to try all issues and execute all writs of inquiry which may be submitted to it during that term of the court. Talesmen, if any be summoned or retained, shall in like manner be sworn to try all issues and execute all writs of inquiry which may be submitted to them during the day for which they are summoned or the time for which they are retained.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 61, art. 1 (132); 1857, ch. 61, art. 143; 1871, § 744; 1880, § 1697; 1892, § 2384; 1906, § 2713; Hemingway's 1917, § 2206; 1930, § 2059; 1942, § 1793.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1992–2024 · leading case: Wilburn v. State, 608 So. 2d 702 (Miss. 1992).
Wilburn v. State, 608 So. 2d 702 (Miss. 1992). “§ 13-5-73 (1972), where, as here: (1) the jury, prior to the taking of testimony, received the oath of petit jurors prescribed by Miss. Code Ann. § 13-5-71 (1972); (2) the defendant refused any attempt by the trial judge to cure the omission, if any, including an offer by the…”
Moore v. State, 996 So. 2d 756 (Miss. 2008). “…discretion by the court, during the present term, and true verdicts give according to the evidence. So help you God." Miss.Code Ann. § 13-5-71 (Rev.2002).”
Kiker v. State, 919 So. 2d 190 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “1992), the jurors received the somewhat broader oath presently found in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 13-5-71 (Rev.2002). However, after being specifically chosen to try a rape case, the jurors in Wilburn may not have been administered the oath required by Section 13-5-71.”
Debrow v. State, 972 So. 2d 550 (Miss. 2007). “Will each of you promise me on your oaths then if you're selected as a juror in this case, that you will follow the evidence as it is presented in this courtroom and render a decision based on that evidence, that proof, and the law *553 that I will instruct you on, and return a…”
Richard Chapman v. State of Mississippi, 250 So. 3d 429 (Miss. 2018). “Pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 13-5-71, members of the petit jury shall be sworn as follows: You, and each of you, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will well and truly try all issues and execute all writs of inquiry that may be submitted to you, or left to your…”
Boggans v. State, 867 So. 2d 279 (Miss. Ct. App. 2004). “After the jury had been empaneled and testimony from the first witness for the prosecution had been received, *283 defense counsel brought to the attention of the trial court that the jury had not been properly sworn to try the matter as a capital case under the requirement of…”
Stewart v. State, 881 So. 2d 919 (Miss. Ct. App. 2004). “Stewart argues that the jurors in his case should have been sworn according to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 13-5-71 (Rev.2002), the petit juror oath, and Section 13-5-73 (Rev.”
Allen v. State, 945 So. 2d 422 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “Allen's petit jury was not sworn with the petit juror's oath required by Miss.Code Ann. 13-5-71. Thus her jury was no more than a group of spectators and the verdict it returned is void.”
Dubose v. State, 919 So. 2d 5 (Miss. 2005). “Stewart argues that the jurors in his case should have been sworn according to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 13-5-71 (Rev.2002), the petit juror oath, and Section 13-5-73 (Rev.”
Lee v. MGM Resorts Mississippi, Inc., 200 So. 3d 1129 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016). “, whether they were sworn to give a true verdict, see Miss. Code Ann. § 13-5-71 (Rev.2012), or only to answer voir dire questions truthfully.”
Holbrook v. State, 4 So. 3d 382 (Miss. Ct. App. 2008). “With new appellate counsel, Holbrook argues that the record does not establish that the jury was sworn as required by Mississippi Code Annotated section 13-5-71 (Rev.2002). 1 Holbrook admits that in the proceedings in the trial court, he never objected to the failure to…”
Lawrence v. State, 928 So. 2d 894 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “Lawrence argues that her conviction should be overturned because the trial court failed to administer the petit juror's oath (or any other oath) as required by Mississippi Code Annotated section 13-5-71 (Rev.2002). [1] Lawrence contends that this alleged lack of an oath violated…”
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