Title 32, Courts And Court Officers

[PART I. SELECTION AND SERVICE] [§612-1] Declaration of policy. It is the policy of this State that all persons selected for jury service be selected at random from a fair cross section of the population of the area served by the court, and that all qualified citizens have the op…

§612-11 Master list. (a) Each year the clerk for each circuit shall compile a master list. The master list shall consist of all voter registration lists for the circuit, which shall be supplemented with other lists of persons residing in the circuit, such as lists of taxpayers an…

§612-12 Master jury wheel. Each year the clerk for each circuit, by random selection, shall place in the master jury wheel the names of prospective jurors taken from the master list, in such number as the clerk determines should be processed in order to provide the number of juro…

§612-13 Juror qualification form. (a) The clerk shall prepare an alphabetical list of the names in the master jury wheel, which shall not be disclosed to any person other than pursuant to this chapter or specific order of the court. The clerk shall mail to every name on the list …

§612-14 Qualified jury wheel. (a) Upon return of the juror qualification forms, the clerk, after careful investigation in each case, shall select for prospective jury service all those persons whom the clerk believes are qualified and not exempt; provided that any person who is e…

§612-15 Certified jury lists. (a) Every year, the clerk of each circuit shall make and file, not later than January 5, one or more certified lists of the names and addresses of such number of persons as the court may order, subject to serve as grand jurors during the ensuing year…

§612-16 Grand jury. (a) The court shall order one or more grand juries to be impaneled at such times as the public interest requires; provided that there shall be an annual initial impaneling not later than January 15. (b) For the impaneling of a grand jury, the prospective juror…

§612-17 Trial jury. (a) This section shall be applicable to the drawing of a trial jury and service thereon. (b) Whenever a judge requires the services of a trial jury for use in proceedings before the judge or any other judge of the circuit, the judge may order the required numb…

§612-18 [Trial jury; additional requirements.] (a) If the court so orders, prospective trial jurors shall be drawn and summoned, and further proceedings had as provided in section 612‑17. (b) In no case shall the trial jurors be chosen other than by lot, nor shall the trial jury …

§612-19 Summoning of prospective jurors. (a) When so ordered by the court, the clerk shall transmit to the chief of police or a bailiff the names of prospective jurors to be summoned. The chief of police or bailiff, either personally or through an authorized subordinate, shall su…

§612-2 Prohibition of discrimination. A citizen shall not be excluded from jury service in this State on account of race, color, religion, sex, including gender identity or expression, national origin, economic status, or physical disability, except as provided in section 612-4(b…

§612-20 Requests for exemption or excuse. If a person who is exempt or who believes oneself to be entitled to be excused from jury duty, is summoned as a juror, even though the person did not request exemption or excuse previously, or was not exempted or excused by the clerk, the…

§612-21 Jurors disqualified, exempted, or excused. Whenever a juror has been disqualified, exempted, or excused, that fact shall be noted, and the juror shall not be subject to service for the period of time commensurate with the nature and circumstances of the juror's disqualifi…

§612-22 Trial jurors subject to one year of service; one day or one trial requirement. The persons whose names are placed on the certified lists of prospective trial jurors filed by the clerk shall be subject to service for one year from and after January 1 and until the filing o…

§612-23 Challenging compliance with selection procedures. (a) Promptly after the moving party discovered or by the exercise of diligence could have discovered the grounds therefor, and in any event before the trial jury is sworn to try the case, a party may move to stay the proce…

§612-24 Preservation of records. All records and papers compiled and maintained by the clerk in connection with the selection and service of jurors shall be preserved by the clerk for four years after the termination of the prescribed period of service and for any longer period o…

[§612-25] Protection of jurors' employment. (a) An employer shall not deprive an employee of the employee's employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce the employee with respect thereto, because the employee receives a summons, responds thereto, serves as a juror, or attends cour…

§612-26 Use of electronic or other means for drawing grand and trial juries. Selections of citizens who are subject to jury duty and drawings of jury lists, may be made by electronic data processing or any other method to ensure random selection of jurors and implement the purpos…

§612-27 Rules. The supreme court is authorized to adopt, amend, and repeal rules of court, not inconsistent with the policies and objectives set forth in this chapter, regulating all aspects of the selection and management of grand and trial jurors, and setting forth policies, pr…

§612-3 Definitions. As used in this chapter: "Circuit" refers to a judicial circuit, as specified in section 603-1. "Clerk" and "clerk of the court" means the chief court administrator for a circuit, any authorized deputy chief court administrator, and any other person designated…

§612-4 Grounds of qualification and disqualification. (a) A prospective juror shall be qualified to serve as a juror if the prospective juror is: (b) A prospective juror shall be disqualified to serve as a juror if the prospective juror: (c) For purposes of this section, "finally…

[§612-5] Disqualification by interest. No person shall sit as a juror in any case in which the person's relative by affinity or by consanguinity within the third degree is interested, either as a plaintiff or defendant, or in the issue of which the juror has, either directly or t…

PART II. GRAND JURY COUNSEL AND PROCEEDINGS §612-51 Grand jury counsel; appointment and removal. The chief justice of the state supreme court shall appoint one or more grand jury counsel for the four judicial circuits of the State, without regard to chapters 76 and 89. Right to r…

§612-52 Grand jury counsel; qualifications. The grand jury counsel shall be licensed to practice law before the supreme court of the State, and shall not be a public employee. [L 1980, c 209, §3]

§612-53 Grand jury counsel; length of term; extension of term; limitation on reappointment. (a) Grand jury counsel shall serve for a term of one year following appointment. (b) The term of a grand jury counsel may be extended when the matters for which the counsel was called to s…

§612-54 Grand jury counsel; call to duty. Grand jury counsel shall be subject to call by the appointing authority during the counsel's term of office. Such a call for service shall include an estimate of the number of hours or days, or other reasonable approximation of the time t…

§612-55 Grand jury counsel; compensation. The grand jury counsel shall be compensated on a daily basis at the same rate as per diem judges of the district court. [L 1980, c 209, §6]

§612-56 Grand jury counsel; disqualification. (a) Grand jury counsel shall disqualify oneself in any matter in which circumstances render substantial question upon the counsel's impartiality or which would jeopardize public confidence in the grand jury. (b) The prosecutor may pet…

§612-57 Grand jury counsel; duties. The grand jury counsel shall serve, upon request of the grand jury, as independent legal counsel to the grand jury, to be at the call of the grand jury during its proceedings in obtaining appropriate advice on matters of law after the grand jur…

§612-58 Grand jury proceedings. (a) Each grand jury proceeding conducted under the authority of the State shall be provided with access to grand jury counsel. (b) The deliberation and the voting of the grand jury shall be private; provided that the grand jury may interrupt its de…

§612-59 Dismissal of indictment. Any indictment which is based upon a grand jury proceeding in which a violation of section 612-56, 612-57, or 612-58 has occurred may be subject to dismissal without prejudice by an appropriate state court in the exercise of its discretion. Motion…

§612-6 Exempt when. A person may claim exemption from service as a juror if the person is: For purposes of this section, "emergency medical services agency" means any government agency, private agency, or company that provides ambulance services, emergency medical services, or di…

§612-60 Grand jury counsel; court review. If the court finds that the grand jury counsel has provided the grand jury erroneous counsel or has acted improperly, the court may require that the grand jury be given the corrected advice or shall be advised as to improper action, and s…

§612-7 Excused when, for cause. A prospective juror shall not be excused by a court for slight or trivial cause, but only when it appears that jury duty would entail a serious personal hardship, or that for other good cause the prospective juror should be excused either temporari…

§612-8 Pay of jurors; mileage fee; bus fare; parking violations exemption. (a) Each juror or prospective juror shall be paid $30 for each day of actual attendance at court. In addition, each juror or prospective juror shall be paid the higher of either: A person who appears at th…

§612-9 Certificate for jury pay. At least once each month, the clerk shall certify the number of days each juror or prospective juror has attended court and the amount due to the juror or prospective juror. [L 1973, c 191, pt of §1; gen ch 1985; am L 2007, c 122, §6]