J u ry duty, what give s ?

By James Steindler Contributing Editor

Pretty much wherever you live in the good ol’ United States of America, a jury notice will find you and likely several times throughout life. While, at first glance, it may appear in the mailbox as an inconvenience to the receiver, it’s part of a larger system — albeit imperfect — that’s endured since before the dawn of the first 13 colonies.

While it’s a nationwide custom, and every jury system in the country is rooted in the Constitution, the practice can vary. For example, in Colorado county and district courts, a convicted felon can serve as a trial juror but not on a grand jury. Utah is a different story. There, people with a felony are not eligible to serve unless their conviction has been expunged.

Other eligibility requirements include being 18 years or older, a United States citizen, being literate in the English language and residing at least 50% of the time in the jurisdiction for which being summoned.

Within the Colorado Judicial Branch (CJB), the size of a jurisdiction can make a difference when it comes to who sends notices to potential jurors.

“Here in the Ninth Judicial District — meaning Garfield-Glenwood Springs, Garfield-Rifle, Rio Blanco and Pitkin Counties — the clerk of court has the dual duty of jury commissioner,” Dawn Garey, the clerk of court for Garfield County’s Glenwood Springs courthouse, explained to The Sopris Sun. “So, we send out the summons. In larger districts and/or counties, they usually have a jury commissioner that does this.”

There are 22 judicial districts within CJB and 64 counties. Garfield County has two separate court houses — the primary being in Glenwood Springs, and an associate courthouse in Rifle.

In Colorado, whenever there is a jury trial set at the county or district level, the jury commissioner puts in a request to randomly pull names from a “jury wheel” made relative to the county or district. The jury wheel is created at the state office every August for the upcoming year.

The term “jury wheel” originates from back when names were placed into a barrel and turned around to mix them up. Today, the system is computerized.

“There are three ways that the jury wheel is created,” Garey said. “This occurs at the state office for the entire state of Colorado.” She explained that CJB uses voter registration and department of revenue data — including drivers license information and tax records. “We also run the names through vital statistics every quarter to remove anyone who is deceased,” Garey added.

The computer system will detect names that are the same with matching addresses, in an attempt to avoid delivering multiple notices to one person.

“You’re allowed one postponement for the year for any reason at all,” said Garey. After one freebie, a prospective juror must provide a darn good reason to miss jury selection, and the jury commissioner ultimately has the discretion to grant an excuse ahead of trial or not.

Once someone appears for jury duty at the courthouse, it’s in the judge’s and attorneys’ hands to determine who will be excused. This process is called jury selection, or voir dire. Attorneys argue whether a juror’s background or personal values should disqualify them from serving in a particular case. Once the jury is selected, everyone remaining outside the jury box is dismissed.

Children are not allowed to appear alongside their parents. Mother’s who are breastfeeding may be granted a postponement and called again at a later date.

In Colorado, in most cases, an employer is compelled to pay an employee’s wage for a day they would have worked but had to appear for jury duty instead, and up to $50 a day for the first three days of service. The law states: “An employer shall not threaten, coerce or discharge an employee for reporting for jury service as summoned.” In Utah, the state compensates the juror directly for their time away from work.

On top of the county and district courts, someone may be called to serve in federal court. The United States District Court of Colorado is divided into four juror divisions, and the nearest federal courthouse is in Grand Junction.