TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — After a break due to COVID concerns, Pima Superior Courts have been increasing jury trials since last Spring. That means there’s more chance a jury summons will land in your mailbox. KGUN9 On Your Side talked to Pima County’s Jury Commissioner for more on how the system works and what happens if a jury summons conflicts with your schedule.
If you registered to vote in Pima County, or you have a driver's license, you’re on the lists the Jury Commissioner uses to find jury candidates.
Pima County Jury Commissioner Sally Digges says, “Obviously a lot of people are going to appear in both databases, and our system will weed out those duplicates and so if you're registered to vote and you have an Arizona driver's license, it doesn't make you twice as likely to get summoned.”
You can be called as a potential juror once a year.
If you actually serve on a jury, you’re excused for two years.
The Pima County Jury Commissioner calls jurors for Pima Superior Court, Pima Justice Court and Tucson City Court.
Digges says, “But what gets confusing is that federal court also summons so sometimes it gets confusing that there are multiple courts that could possibly summon someone for jury service, Pima County, Superior Court, Federal Court and then some of the municipal courts like Marana, Oro Valley, or Sahuarira. They also summon jurors.”
Digges says often you can shift your jury service if you have a conflict.
“Arizona law lays out the different reasons that a person can be excused where it's an extreme hardship either physically or financially. And for somebody who, for example, has a trip planned, we could just postpone them to a trip to a time when they don't have the conflict of travel plans or doctor appointments, things like that.”
If there’s a medical issue that makes it harder to serve, there’s a form for your doctor to fill out.
And Digges says Pima County excuses people older than 75 just for the asking.
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