How are jurors selected to do jury duty?
The details may vary among states and between the state and federal courts, but the basics are pretty much the same. A court selects potential jurors from a list of names that are often obtained from lists of people with drivers licenses in the state and people who are registered to vote in the state. When a person is summoned for jury duty, they usually get a letter telling them the date and time they have to appear at the courthouse. After this, one of two things will happen. At the courthouse, there is a chance that they will not be called to serve in a trial that day. If that happens, they go home, but the courthouse may ask them to return at a later date — when someone is summoned for jury duty, they’re often “on call” for a period of a few weeks, during which the court may call on them two or three times or until they’re asked to serve on a case. If a jury is asked to serve on a case, they will next go through a process called voir dire. Voir dire is the process the attorneys in
Most states have laws that require that jurors (other than grand jurors) be selected from publicly available lists, rather on the basis of being picked by someone in authority. I know of three basic systems: • voter registration lists. • driver’s license holders resident in the county. • a combination of the two choices above. Using system #1 will give you higher quality jurors and a better response rate to jury summons. But, the pool with be less representative of the community at large. This system may discourage people from registering to vote to avoid jury duty. Using system #2 you’ll get a large pool, which will be more inclusive, but will have a lower response rate and higher administrative costs. System #3 is slightly more inclusive, since many people don’t register to vote until right around election day, so the lists are only updated bi-annually. Driver’s license lists are updated more frequently. So theoretically, you could find extra people that way. No system is perfect, bu
