(1) The court may adjourn the proceedings from time to time and shall direct any further notice thereof to be given that may seem proper. The court shall hear proofs and allegations of all parties interested touching the regularity of the proceedings and shall rule upon all objections thereto. Unless a jury is requested by the owner of the property as provided in section 38-1-106, the court shall appoint a board of commissioners of not less than three disinterested and impartial freeholders to determine compensation in the manner provided in this article to be allowed to the owner and persons interested in the lands, real estate, claims, or other property proposed to be taken or damaged in such county for the purposes alleged in the petition. The court shall fix the time and place for the first meeting of such commissioners. Such meeting shall be held at least thirty days prior to the date scheduled for the trial to determine compensation. At the meeting, a voir dire examination shall be conducted by the court and the parties to determine whether the proposed commissioners are disinterested and impartial freeholders. If the court determines that any of the proposed commissioners is not disinterested and impartial, the court shall replace such person and appoint another commissioner, who shall also be subject to voir dire examination. At the hearing to determine compensation, the court shall administer an oath to the commissioners, shall instruct them in writing as to their duties, and, at the conclusion of the testimony, shall instruct them in writing as to the applicable and proper law to be followed by them in arriving at their ascertainment. The court shall fix reasonable compensation for the services and expenses of said commissioners and shall provide the services of a court reporter to record all proceedings had by the commissioners. (2) The commissioners, before entering upon the duties of their office, shall take an oath to faithfully and impartially discharge their duties as commissioners, and any one of them may administer oaths to witnesses produced before them. The commissioners may request the court or clerk thereof to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to attend the proceedings and testify as in other civil cases and may adjourn and hold meetings for that purpose. They may request the court to make rulings upon the propriety of the proof or objections of the parties. They shall hear the proofs and allegations of the parties according to the rules of evidence and, after viewing the premises or other property and without fear, favor, or partiality, shall ascertain and certify the proper compensation to be made to said owner or parties interested for the lands, real estate, claims, or other property to be taken or affected, as well as all damages accruing to the owner or parties interested in consequence of the condemnation of the same. The commissioners shall make, subscribe, and file with the clerk of the court in which such proceedings are had a certificate of their ascertainment and assessment, in which such lands, real estate, claims, or other property shall be described with convenient certainty and accuracy. (3) The court, upon the filing of such certificate or returning of a verdict of a jury as provided in section 38-1-107 and due proof that such compensation and separate sums, if any, are certified or found to have been paid to the parties entitled to the same or have been deposited to the credit of such parties in court or with the clerk of the court for that purpose, shall make and cause to be entered in its minutes a rule describing such lands, real estate, claims, or other property, such ascertainment or compensation with the mode of making it, and each payment or deposit of the compensation, a certified copy of which shall be recorded and indexed in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the proper county in like manner and with like effect as if it were a deed of conveyance from the owner and parties interested to the proper parties. If there is more than one person interested as owner or otherwise in the property and they are unable to agree upon the nature, extent, or value of their respective interests in the total amount of compensation so ascertained and assessed on an undivided basis by either a commission or a jury, the nature, extent, or value of said interests shall thereupon be determined according to law in a separate and subsequent proceeding and distribution made among the several claimants thereto. (4) Upon the entry of such rule, the petitioner shall become seized in fee unless a lesser interest has been sought, except as provided in this section, of all such lands, real estate, claims, or other property described in said rule as required to be taken, and may take possession and hold and use the same for the purposes specified in such petition, and shall thereupon be discharged from all claims for any damages by reason of any matter specified in such petition, certificate, or rule of said court. No right-of-way or easement acquired by condemnation shall ever give the petitioner any right, title, or interest to any vein, ledge, lode, deposit, oil, natural gas, or other mineral resource found or existing in the premises condemned, except insofar as the same may be required for subsurface support. (5) If at any time after an attempted or actual ascertainment of compensation under this article or any purchase or by donation to said petitioner of any lands, real estate, claims, or other property for purposes specified in the petition it appears that the title acquired thereby, to all or any part of such lands for the use of such petitioner, is defective or if said assessment fails or is deemed defective, the petitioner may proceed and perfect such title by procuring an ascertainment of the proper compensation to be made to any person who has title, claim, or interest in or lien upon such lands, real estate, claims, or other property and by making payment thereof in the manner provided in section 38-1-112, as near as may be. (6) (a) At any stage of such new proceedings or of any proceedings under this article, the court, by rule in that behalf made, may authorize the petitioner, if already in possession, to use, and, if not in possession, to take possession of and use, said premises during the pendency and until the final conclusion of such proceedings and may stay all actions and proceedings against such petitioner on account thereof, if such petitioner pays a sufficient sum into court, or to the clerk thereof, to pay the compensation in that behalf when ascertained. The court wherein any such proceedings are had shall determine the amount such petitioner is required to pay or deposit pending any such ascertainment. In every case where possession is so authorized, it is lawful for either party to conduct the proceedings to a conclusion, if the same are delayed by the other party. (b) Upon proper application to the court or by stipulation between the parties, the owner may withdraw from the sum so deposited an amount not to exceed three-fourths of the highest valuation evidenced or testimony presented by the petitioner at the hearing for possession, unless the petitioner agrees to a larger withdrawal, if all parties interested in the property sought to be acquired consent and agree to such withdrawal. Any such withdrawal of said deposit shall be a partial payment of the amount of total compensation to be paid and shall be deducted by the clerk of the court from any award or verdict entered thereafter. (c) The petitioner shall not take possession of the property sought to be taken or condemned earlier than thirty days after service of the summons upon the defendant, unless the owner consents to such possession prior to the expiration of the thirty-day period.
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