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The United States Constitution guarantees the right to a trial by jury in both criminal and civil cases. Jury duty is mandatory in order to make it possible. Grand jurors serve on a grand jury to determine whether facts and accusations presented by the U.S. Attorney warrant an indictment in a criminal case. Petit Jurors serve on criminal or civil trials, determine issues of fact, apply the law as instructed by the Judge, and deliberate to reach a verdict. Petit jurors may be called to serve on both civil and criminal trials. Examples of civil cases are contract disputes, civil rights violations, etc. Criminal trials involve a party or parties who are alleged to have violated a federal law and who have been indicted by a grand jury. If you are selected as a petit or trial juror on a case, you must serve until the conclusion of the case. Petit jurors should be prepared to remain the entire day. Petit jurors’ normal service hours are 8:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. (Monday to Friday). Petit or trial jurors serve a total of 30 duty days; grand jurors will serve 1 to 2 days a month for a period of at least 18 months or as needed. Under Federal law, a person cannot be required to serve jury duty more often than once every two (2) years. Title 28, United States Code, Section 1866(e) . If you have served in the United States District Court or in the local court within the last two (2) years, and wish to be excused, please mail a copy of your official jury certificate, together with our questionnaire, in the return envelope. The Court's schedule sometimes changes at the last minute. Rather than have you sit in the jury room all day, we may change the date you must report for jury duty. On the evening (or weekend) before your scheduled date to report for jury duty, you will receive an outbound notification by an automatic calling system. The recording may instruct you to report to the courthouse on the date indicated in the notification letter, or it may delay your date to report. When you have completed your jury service, the Court will automatically mail a letter certifying your jury service to your home address. The letter will list only the days you were present in the courthouse and it should arrive within two weeks. (Please note your juror's check will not be enclosed in this letter.) Once you have served, you are exempt from jury service in any other court for at least the next four years. Keep the original letter as it is the only way to prove your jury service if you are notified or summoned by another court. |
