Be Prompt

It is extremely important that jurors not be late in reporting for duty. A late juror wastes the time of the judge, the parties, the lawyers and witnesses. A lawyer, witness, or juror may be fined for contempt of court for being tardy.

Badges

You should wear your juror badge at all times. It is especially important to have the juror badge on when you leave the courtroom. The badge will alert others that you are a juror and cases should not be discussed in your presence.

Pagers/Cellular Telephones

We also ask that you do not carry pagers or cell phones while you are on jury service. If you must carry one, you will be required to turn it off and put it away before entering any court and while staff are giving announcements.

Service Activities

When you first arrive, report to the Jury Assembly Room, on the Street Level of the Courts Building - also referred to as the "assembly room."

While waiting for assignment, it is very important that you do not leave the assembly room until you are called to go to a court, dismissed by the staff for lunch, or dismissed at the end of the day. If you need to leave the assembly room for any matter, you must check with a member of the staff in the assembly room before doing so. If you are missing or do not return during the course of your jury service, you could be served with a summons to appear before the judge to show cause why you should not be cited for contempt.

When you are called to a court from the assembly room, take all of your personal belongings with you as you will not return to the assembly room if you are selected to serve on that case.

If you are not selected to serve as a juror when you are sent to a court, you will either return to the pool of jurors in the assembly room or be dismissed, depending on the day and the time of day.

You were asked to report at 8:15 A.M. the first day and if you are still in the assembly room at the end of the day, you will be dismissed at approximately 4:00 P.M. The second day you will have to return at 8:30 A.M. and again will be dismissed at approximately 4:00 P.M. if you are still in the assembly room. Once you are selected as a juror in a particular court, the judge of the court will set the hours and you will follow his/her instructions for the duration of the case.

Radio, Television, Newspaper Reports and Independent Investigations

In order to keep an open mind, jurors should not listen to radio, TV or read articles about the trial. News sources sometimes give a biased or unbalanced view of the case. No juror may visit the location of the crime or accident. No juror may seek to do any independent investigation. No juror may talk to a lawyer about the facts of a case you are hearing. All information about the case must come from the evidence at trial and the jury must base their decision on that evidence and not from outside sources.

Discussing the Case

During the trial, jurors should not talk about the case with each other, other persons, or allow other people to talk about it in their presence. If anyone should insist upon talking about the case to you, tell them that you are on the jury and cannot discuss the case. If the person insist, you should ask for their name and report the matter to the judge at the first opportunity.

Talking With the Parties or Lawyers

Do not talk with parties, witnesses, or lawyers during a trial. Any conversation with these individuals can create the perception of unfairness even if the conversation was unrelated to the case.

Selecting a Foreperson

At the close of the case when you retire to the jury deliberation room, your first duty is to select a foreperson. It is the foreperson’s duty to ensure that the deliberations are conducted in an orderly fashion, the issues submitted for decisions are fully and fairly discussed, and that all jurors participate in the process. The foreperson also counts votes for the jury.

Secrecy

The discussions and verdict should not be known to anyone outside the jury room until your verdict has been read in court and accepted by the judge. The judge will instruct you as to when you can discuss the case with parties, lawyers, reporters or anyone else you wish. However, until you have been released from service you must keep the proceedings a secret.

Dismissal

When you are dismissed from service, you will be given instructions from either the court or the staff of the Jury Assembly Room to check out. When checking out, you will have to turn in your juror badge. Be sure to have the juror badge with you at all times, as you never know exactly when you will be dismissed.