Welcome to jury duty in Madison County District Court. We will do all
that we can to make our comfortable and answer any questions you might
have as you fulfill this very important duty of your citizenship.
How was I chosen as a juror?
Jurors are chosen at random from current lists of persons age 19 or
older, living in Madison County, Nebraska, and are either registered
voters or licensed drivers. Some people are chosen several times during
their lifetime, other are never chosen.
If you are a registered voter or licensed driver, you have the same
change of being chosen as someone else who meets those criteria.
What can I expect as a prospective juror?
If you are a prospective juror, you will have received a summons
requiring you to appear for jury duty during the next jury term of the
Madison County District Court. Please call the jury message on the date
indicated, and listen to the entire message. You may not have to appear
on the following day. This is because cases scheduled for trial will,
on occasion, settle prior to the trial date. Likewise, it is possible
that cases scheduled for trial will, by necessity, sometimes be
continued. Whenever cases scheduled for trial might be settle or
continued, this office will provide you with notice at the earliest
possible opportunity that you will not be required to appear on a
certain date.
You are one of a larger panel, or venire, that have been summoned for
jury duty during this term of court. From this larger panel, a jury of
twelve persons will ultimately be selected to serve as jurors in a given
case. On occasion, one to two additional alternate jurors may also be
selected.
When you report for jury duty, please check in at the District Court
office located on the north end of the Courthouse. The jury selection
process will then commence. As a general rule, the jury selection
process will last through the morning. However, this might vary
depending on the nature of the case being tried. After jury selection
has been completed, those members of the panel who are not selected as
jurors or alternates will be excused, and will be notified and reminded
when to return for jury duty for the next scheduled trial. Generally,
trials in the District Court average approximately tow or three days to
complete. Again, this is only a general rule of thumb, and the trial of
any given case, depending on the circumstances unique to that case may
require more or less time to complete. During the jury selection
process the judge will usually indicate and estimate as to the length of
time expected to complete the trial.
A prospective juror is required by law to appear for jury duty on all
dates summoned. However, the judge my excuse a juror only upon showing
of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity. Strict
proof of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity will
be required by the judge prior to considering excusing a prospective
jurors. Jurors are rarely excused because of work obligations. In this
regard, our law provides that any person summoned for jury duty shall
not be subject to discharge of employment, loss of pay, loss of sick
leave, loss of vacation time, or any other form of penalty, as a result
of his or her absence from employment due to such jury duty. If you
need to make a request to be excused from jury duty for any given trial,
you must make a written application for postponement of jury service.
The judge will then review your request, and you will be advised of his
decision. Consideration is given to all full time students. You will
need to provide proof of you status as a student. Please include this
information with you application for postponement.
You will be paid $35.00 per day for jury service, plus 48.5
cents per mile.
Our office will try to make your jury service informative and pleasant.
If you have questions, please feel free to call our office at
402-454-3311, ext 140; or email us at
mschaffer@courts.state.ne.us
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