Jury duty is a way for U.S. citizens to participate in the judicial process. If you are called for jury duty, you will receive a summons in the mail and will have to report to the courthouse on the specified date. Here is what you can expect to happen during jury duty:
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Check-in: When you arrive at the courthouse, you will go through security and check in using your summons or reminder notice. You will also give the jury pool officer your completed confidential juror questionnaire.
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Jury selection: Once you report to a courtroom, you and the other potential jurors will be escorted into the courtroom by a bailiff or court attendant. The judge will explain what the case is about, how long the case will last, and introduce the lawyers and parties to you. The judge and attorneys will ask the potential jurors questions, general or related to the specific case before them, to determine their suitability to serve on the jury. This process is called voir dire, which typically results in some prospective jurors being excused, based on their answers, from serving in that trial.
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Instructions and closing arguments: After the parties give their closing arguments and the trial is over, the judge will instruct the jury on the law relevant to the case.
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Jury deliberation: After instructions and closing arguments, the bailiff or court attendant will escort you to the jury room where you and the other jurors will deliberate. First, you will select one of the jurors as foreperson. He or she leads the discussion and tries to encourage everyone to join in. The whole idea of a jury is to come to a decision after full and frank discussion of the evidence and the instructions, based on calm, unbiased reasoning.
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Verdict: Sometimes one or all of the parties will ask that the jury be polled. This means that the judge or clerk will ask each juror individually if this is his or her own verdict.
If you are selected to serve on a jury, after the trial is over your service is also completed for at least a year and often longer. The majority of people who report for jury service serve for just one day, and most, but not all jurors, will finish their service in 1–3 days.
