Chapter 52, Chapter 52

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 county served by the court, and that all citizens have the opportunity in accordance with this article to be considered for jury serv…

No qualified prospective juror is exempt from jury service.

(a) The court, upon request of a prospective juror or on its own initiative, shall determine on the basis of information provided on the juror qualification form or interview with the prospective juror or other competent evidence whether the prospective juror should be excused fr…

Any court may, upon the appearance of an excess number of qualified jurors, dispense with the attendance of the unneeded jurors on any one day the court is sitting, as long as such discharge from duty is conducted in a random fashion and in a manner consistent with the spirit of …

In any suit or proceeding in which a county, district, school district or municipal corporation is a party, no person is incompetent as a juror because such person is an inhabitant or taxpayer of the county, district, school district or municipal corporation. In any case where a …

(a) In any criminal case or any civil case referred to the Mass Litigation Panel, in any court, if qualified jurors, not exempt from serving, cannot be conveniently found in the county in which the trial is to be held, the judge of the court shall enter an order directing as many…

(a) Within seven days after the moving party discovers, or by the exercise of due diligence could have discovered, the grounds therefor, and in any event before the petit jury is sworn to try the case, a party may move to stay the proceedings, quash the indictment, or move for ot…

(a) All records and papers compiled and maintained by the clerk in connection with selection and service of jurors from the county list and the jury wheel shall be preserved by the clerk for at least four years after the jurors were selected, or for any longer period ordered by t…

(a) A juror shall be paid mileage, at the rate set by the Secretary of the Department of Administration, for travel expenses to and from the juror’s residence to the courthouse or other place where the court is convened and shall be reimbursed for other expenses incurred as a res…

No juror who departs without leave of the court or who, being summoned as a witness for the state, charges for attendance as such, may be entitled to receive any reimbursement for services as a juror.

The clerk of any court upon which juries are in attendance shall make an entry upon its record stating separately the amount which each juror is entitled to receive out of the State Treasury for services or attendance during the term. Any clerk who fails to pay over, as required …

A citizen may not be excluded from jury service on account of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, economic status or being a qualified individual with a disability.

The method of payment of jurors shall be determined by the chief judge and approved by the State Tax Commissioner. It is the duty of the clerk, as soon as practicable after the adjournment of the court or before the adjournment of the court at such time as the chief judge may dir…

Upon receiving a summons to report for jury duty an employee shall, the next day the employee is engaged in employment, exhibit the summons to the employee's immediate superior and the employee shall thereupon be excused from employment for the day or days required in serving as …

If any person is guilty of any fraud by tampering with the jury wheel prior to drawing jurors that person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than five years, or …

In any two-year period a person may not be required: (1) To serve or attend court for prospective service as a juror more than thirty court days, except if necessary to complete service in a particular case; (2) To serve on more than one grand jury; (3) To serve as both a grand a…

A person summoned for jury service who fails to appear or to complete jury service as directed shall be ordered by the court to appear forthwith and show cause for failure to comply with the summons. If the person fails to show good cause for noncompliance with the summons, the p…

All provisions of this article shall apply with equal force and effect to the selection of jurors for magistrate juries as well as for petit juries.

As used in this article: "Administrative director" means the individual appointed by the Supreme Court of Appeals under Section 3, Article VIII of the West Virginia Constitution; "Court" means the circuit and magistrate courts of this state, and includes, when the context require…

Potential petit jurors shall be selected by the clerk of the circuit court pursuant to the provisions of this article and under the supervision of the circuit court, or in circuits with more than one circuit judge, the chief judge of the circuit.

(a) The administrative director or his or her designee shall compile the master list consisting of persons appearing on not less than two of the following source lists: (1) Persons who have filed a state personal income tax return for the preceding tax year; (2) Persons who are r…

(a) Not less than 20 days before the date for which persons are to report for jury duty, the clerk may, if directed by the court, serve by first-class mail, upon each person listed on the county list, a juror qualification form accompanied by instructions necessary for its comple…

(a) The clerk for each county shall maintain a jury wheel and place the names or identifying numbers of prospective jurors taken from the county list into the jury wheel, using the electronic system provided by the administrative director. (b) In counties having a population of l…

(a) The clerk shall draw the prescribed number of jurors for civil and criminal trials in accordance with the most recent administrative order issued by the Supreme Court of Appeals. (b) If a jury is ordered to be drawn, the clerk shall cause each person drawn for jury service to…

(a) The court shall determine whether any prospective juror is disqualified for jury service on the basis of information provided on the juror qualification form or interview with the prospective juror or other competent evidence. The clerk shall enter this determination in the s…

(a) The jurors drawn for jury service shall be assigned at random by the clerk to each jury panel in a manner prescribed by the court. (b) If there is an unanticipated shortage of available petit jurors drawn from the jury wheel the court may require the sheriff to summon a suffi…

There shall be a grand jury at each term of a circuit court, except that the circuit court of any county by an order entered of record, or the judge thereof in vacation by written order to the clerk at least twenty days before the term, may dispense with the grand jury for one or…

If the foreman or any grand juror be unable or fail to attend after being sworn, another may be sworn in his stead. And when one grand juror has been discharged, another may, by order of the court, be summoned to attend at the same term.

(a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Prosecuting attorney” means a prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney or duly appointed special prosecuting attorney. (2) “Investigator” means an investigator employed by a prosecuting attorney’s office or an employee of a state…

No presentment or indictment shall be quashed or abated on account of the incompetency or disqualification of any one or more of the grand jurors who found the same.

A grand juror shall be paid mileage, at the rate set by the commissioner of finance and administration for state employees, for travel expenses incurred in traveling from the grand juror's residence to the place of the holding of the grand jury and return, and shall be reimbursed…

Whenever it appears to the judge of any court of record having criminal jurisdiction that there may be possible offenses against the criminal laws of this state which because of their complexity and involvement may require a grand jury to sit for an extended period of time, he ma…

(a) A grand juror, an interpreter, a stenographer, an operator of a recording device, a typist who transcribes recorded testimony, an attorney for the state, or any person to whom disclosure is made under paragraph (B), subdivision (1), subsection(c) of this section, shall not di…

Completed juror questionnaire forms for persons called for or serving as grand jurors are confidential and may only be released from the custody of the clerk with the written permission of the circuit court.

The provisions of article one of this chapter relating to petit juries, so far as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this article, shall be observed and govern grand juries.

The clerk of any circuit court requiring a grand jury shall, at least 30 days before the term of court, draw and assign persons for the grand jury, but the court, or judge thereof, may require the clerk at any specified time to draw and assign grand jurors for either a regular, s…

Of the sixteen grand jurors chosen from the grand jurors and alternate grand jurors summoned, fifteen or more of the grand jurors attending shall be a competent grand jury.

From among the persons so summoned, who attend, the court shall select a foreman, who shall be sworn as follows: "You shall diligently inquire and true presentment make of all such matters as may be given you in charge or come to your knowledge touching the present service. You s…

The grand jurors, after being sworn, shall be charged by the judge, and shall then be sent to their room.

The grand jury shall inquire of and present all felonies, misdemeanors and violations of penal laws, committed in the jurisdiction of the court wherein they are sworn, except that no presentment shall be made of a matter for which there is no imprisonment, but only a fine, where …

At least twelve of the grand jurors must concur in finding or making an indictment or presentment. They may make a presentment or find an indictment upon the information of two or more of their own body, and when a presentment or indictment is so made, or on the testimony of witn…

Although a bill of indictment be returned not a true bill, another bill of indictment against the same person for the same offense may be sent to and acted on by the same or another grand jury.

(a) Any person who, as an employee, is discriminated against by his employer because such employee received, or was served with a summons for jury duty, or was absent from work to respond to a summons for jury duty or to serve on any jury in any court of this state, the United St…