Information from the County Attorney's Office
By Steven J. Franzen, Campbell County Attorney
Some people have asked me in the past why they never get called for jury duty while other people have asked me why they seem to always get called for jury duty. In this article, I will explain how jurors are selected and what qualifications they must have.
Jurors are selected randomly from a master list of all persons in the County over 18 years of age who have a valid driver’s license or who are registered voters in the County. The prospective jurors on the list are mailed a summons requiring them to report for jury service at a specified time and place. State law requires the summons to be issued at least 30 days before jurors are to report for service.
Enclosed with the jury summons is a juror qualification form. Prospective jurors are required to fill out the form and return it to the circuit court clerk’s office within five days of receipt. Juror qualification forms ensure that a prospective juror meets the mandatory qualifications for serving on a jury. The personal information on the form is used to determine whether or not a person is qualified to be a juror. The qualification form information is for official court use only and is kept confidential. The chief circuit judge (or his or her designee) will use the information to determine whether a prospective juror is qualified for jury duty. If a juror fails to return the juror qualification form or fails to appear for jury duty, he or she may be punished by the Court for contempt which could include fines and/or jail time.
To qualify as a juror you must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of Campbell County, able to speak and understand the English language, not served on a jury in the past two years, and not be a convicted felon or under felony indictment. Once you are called to jury duty, you are required to serve.
Should a juror be disqualified for one or more of these reasons, the judge or the designee will enter the disqualification on the space provided on the juror qualification form. Each disqualified juror will be immediately notified of the disqualification. A Judge may also excuse a juror from duty upon a showing of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity. Examples of such would be a juror who is due to deliver a child, a severely physically handicapped individual or a service member who is actively serving in the military overseas.
Moreover, employers, by law, must release someone who has been summoned to jury service from his or her regular work schedule. An employer is not allowed to fire, threaten or coerce an employee who takes off work for jury duty. If an employer discharges an employee in connection with jury duty, the employer may be sued for lost wages, reinstatement and attorney fees. It is discretionary with employers whether to pay employees their normal wages when the employees are on jury duty. However, jurors are compensated $12.50 per day by the state during jury service.
In addition to jury duty in Campbell County for state court, a resident may be called to serve on a federal court. Campbell County jurors serve for a term of 3 months in state court and federal court jurors usually serve for a term of one year.
If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please contact my office by e-mail at countyattorney@campbellcountyky.org, by phone at 859-491-7700 or by regular mail addressed to 319 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.