What to Expect During Your Jury Service

Jury panels are selected for a “trial term,” which is a two-week period, but the actual days of service vary. You could serve only a few days – possibly less or possibly longer. You could be released without being seated on a jury. In some cases, juries are selected but are released before a trial begins.

Your presence in the jury panel is important whatever the timeframe, and regardless of whether you are selected for a case. The judicial system depends on the availability of qualified jurors as judge and attorneys seek resolution to their cases through jury selection. Many times the presence of a jury prompts the parties to settle their disputes before the trial begins.

The instructions will also let you know that after 6 p.m. on the night before you are scheduled to arrive at the courthouse, you should call the Code-a-Phone system to find out if there have been changes in the case that could affect your service.

On the day of your jury service, you will arrive at the designated courthouse at the time indicated in your summons instructions. (The Alabama Middle District has three courthouses – in Montgomery, Opelika, and Dothan. Jurors are selected based on their place of residence and proximity to these courthouses.)

If you are selected for jury service in Montgomery, you will go through security to enter the building, and then gather in the jury assembly room. There you will be given an orientation to jury service and watch a video. If you are serving in Dothan or Opelika, after going through security, you will be directed to the Clerk’s Office or to an assembly area in the hallway.

During this assembly time, the jury administrator or clerk personnel will record your one-way mileage for reimbursement and also provide a certificate of service for your employer, if needed. By mid-morning, the jury panel will be escorted to the courtroom. There the judge and court deputy will begin the process of jury selection. Depending on the complexity of the case and other factors, jury selection may take one to two hours.

The voir dire part of jury selection involves “competency to serve” and determining if there are specific personal factors that hinder the ability to serve. Another set of questions will be case-specific. These questions will involve such questions as whether anyone on the jury panel knows the attorneys or witnesses involved or if there are other factors that could impact the ability to provide a fair hearing.

During this process, the judge may release some jurors from service altogether, or some may be released from one particular case while remaining in the jury panel for the judge’s next jury case.

Attorneys will also have an opportunity to ask the jury panel questions, and jurors will be given the opportunity to answer these questions out loud or in front of the judge. The purpose of these questions is never to intimidate or embarrass a juror, but only to determine if the different sides of the case can receive a fair and impartial hearing.

The jury panel will be released for a break during which the attorneys work with the judge to “strike” the case. Attorneys for each side are given a number of preemptory strikes – removing jurors for whatever reason from their case. If attorneys deem there is a reason that a juror may not give their client a fair and impartial hearing, they may also strike for cause. These discussions are outside the hearing of the jury panel, and jurors will not know these reasons.

When the jury panel’s break has ended, jurors will return to the courtroom. The judge will announce the names of those who have been seated on the jury and will give instructions about the case timeline.

If you are not selected, your two-week period has ended, and the judge will thank you for your service. If you are selected, the judge will give you instructions about the start time for the trial. In some cases, you will be sent home and asked to return on another day. In other cases, opening statements will begin that day. Once seated, all instructions to the jury will come from the judge for your case. (Click here to email the Jury Administrator.)