Jury Info

We will need jury panels, 123 and four to report for jury duty on Monday, February 26 at 8:45 AM. All other jurors will receive a letter in April for the next jury report dates. Thank you and have a good day. 

How is a juror selected? The jury coordinator will select the number of jurors needed from a Tennessee driver’s license disk supplied by the Department of Safety. The coordinator will enter the number of names needed in the system, and then by automated means the computer will randomly give the names as needed.

How long does jury service last? Jury service is for a one year term. You will not be required to be at the courthouse each day. When you are empaneled as a juror you will receive information with instructions for service. In those instructions there will be a number to call that will have a recorded message with the next jury instructions.

You will also be able to go to our website for information to see when or if your panel will be needed for jury service.

What is the difference between grand jury service and jury service? The grand jury makes the decisions if a bound over case has enough evidence to enter the criminal court. They also make the decision whether or not there is enough evidence for a new bill indictment on a case that has never entered the courts.

They both have a one year term. The grand jury meets three times each year. The jurors will be subject to be called in six different months out of the year.

What about vacations and doctor appointments? We don’t expect for you to cancel your doctor’s appointments or your vacations. There is a place on the summons that you will receive if selected as a juror for postponement dates that will be needed. You would need to write in those dates in that are needed before the summons paper is returned to the clerk’s office. If something comes up after you have turned in the summons you would need to contact the jury coordinator. (Darrell Davis 423-334-5821)

What about people that work shift work? The link provided below will show the days and times of exemption for shift workers.

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22-4-106. Absence from employment — Amount of compensation.

(a)

(1) Upon receiving a summons to report for jury duty, any employee shall, on the next day the employee is engaged in the employee's employment, exhibit the summons to the employee's immediate superior, and the employer shall thereupon excuse the employee from employment for each day the employee's service as a juror in any court of the United States or this state exceeds three (3) hours.

(2) If an employee summoned for jury duty is working a night shift or is working during hours preceding those in which court is normally held, the employee shall also be excused from employment as provided by this section for the shift immediately preceding the employee's first day of service. After the first day of service, when the person's responsibility for jury duty exceeds three (3) hours during a day, the person whose circumstances fall within the parameters of this subdivision (a)(2) shall be excused from the person's next scheduled work period occurring within twenty-four (24) hours of that day of jury service. Any question concerning the application of this subdivision (a)(2) to a particular work shift or shifts shall be conclusively resolved by the trial judge of the court to which the employee has been summoned.

(b)

Notwithstanding the excused absence as provided in subsection (a), the employee shall be entitled to the employee's usual compensation received from such employment; however, the employer has the discretion to deduct the amount of the fee or compensation the employee receives for serving as a juror. Moreover, no employer shall be required to compensate an employee for more time than was actually spent serving and traveling to and from jury duty. If an employer employs less than five (5) people on a regular basis or if the juror has been employed by an employer on a temporary basis for less than six (6) months, the employer is not required to compensate the juror during the period of jury service pursuant to this section.

(c)

It is the duty of all persons paying jurors their fee or compensation for jury service to issue to each juror a statement showing the daily fee or compensation and the total amount of fees or compensation received by the juror. The person also shall provide a juror with a statement showing the number of hours the juror spent serving each day if the juror or juror's employer requests such a statement prior to the service at issue.

(d)

(1) No employer shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against an employee for serving on jury duty if the employee, prior to taking time off, gives the required notice pursuant to subsection (a).

(2)

(A) Any employee who is discharged, demoted or suspended because the employee has taken time off to serve on jury duty is entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits caused by such acts of the employer.

(B) Any employer who willfully refuses to rehire or otherwise restore an employee or former employee commits a Class A misdemeanor.

(e) Any employer who violates this section commits a Class A misdemeanor.

(f) For the purposes of this section, “employer” includes, but is not limited to, the state of Tennessee or any local government.

Hardship? Any person may be excused from serving as a juror if you have a hardship or sickness that would prevent you from being able to serve. However you would be expected to provide the courts with documentation from a licensed physician to practice medicine, verifying that a mental or physical condition would interfere with you being able to serve as a juror.

If serving as a juror creates a financial hardship for that person you would not be expected to serve as a juror. However you would be expected to show proof of that hardship.

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22-1-103. Excuse from service — Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship — Documentation — Permanent excuse.

(a)

Any person may be excused from serving as a juror if the prospective juror has a mental or physical condition that causes that person to be incapable of performing jury service. The juror, or the juror's personal representative, must provide the court with documentation from a physician licensed to practice medicine, verifying that a mental or physical condition renders the person unfit for jury service.

(b)

(1) Any person, when summoned to jury duty, may be excused upon a showing that the person's service will constitute an undue or extreme physical or financial hardship to the prospective juror or a person under the prospective juror's care or supervision.

(2) A judge of the court for which the prospective juror was called to jury service shall make undue or extreme physical or financial hardship determinations unless a judge of that court delegates this authority to the jury coordinator. In the event this authority is not delegated to the jury coordinator, a judge of the court may authorize the jury coordinator to make initial inquiries and recommendations concerning such requests.

(3) A person asking to be excused based on a finding of undue or extreme physical or financial hardship shall take all actions necessary to have obtained a ruling on that request by no later than the date on which the person is scheduled to appear for jury duty.

(4) Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not exist solely based on the fact that a prospective juror will be required to be absent from that prospective juror's place of employment.

(5) A person requesting an excuse based on undue or extreme physical or financial hardship shall be required to provide the judge with income tax returns, medical statements from licensed physicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, an affidavit stating that the person is unable to  obtain an appropriate substitute caregiver during the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury, or similar documentation that the judge finds to clearly support the request to be excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation may result in a denial of the request to be excused.

(6) As used in this section, “undue or extreme physical or financial hardship” is limited to circumstances in which a prospective juror would:

• Be required to abandon a person under the juror's personal care or supervision due to the impossibility of obtaining an appropriate substitute caregiver during the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury;

• Incur costs that would have a substantial adverse impact on the payment of the juror's necessary daily living expenses or on those for whom the juror provides the principal means of support;

• Suffer physical hardship that would result in illness or disease; or

• Be deprived of compensation due to the fact that the prospective juror works out-of-state and the out-of-state employer is unwilling to compensate the juror pursuant to § 22-4-106 or that the prospective juror is employed by an employer who is not required to compensate jurors pursuant to § 22-4-106 and declines to do so voluntarily.

• Documents submitted pursuant to this section shall be maintained by the jury coordinator during the jury service term, but may be destroyed thereafter. These documents are not public records and shall not be disclosed, except pursuant to a court order; however, the jury coordinator shall maintain a list of members of the jury pool who were excused pursuant to this section, and that information shall be made available upon request.

• A person excused from jury service pursuant to this section becomes eligible for qualification as a juror following the period ordered by the court, which shall not exceed twenty-four (24) months. A person is excused from jury service permanently only when the deciding judge determines that the underlying grounds for being excused are of a permanent nature.

• A person who is seventy-five (75) years of age or older is excused from jury service upon a showing that the person is seventy-five (75) years of age or older and that the person is incapable of performing jury service because of a mental or physical condition. The jury coordinator of the county shall excuse the person from jury service upon receiving a written declaration stating the person' s name and date of birth, and declaring the mental or physical condition that causes the  person to be incapable of performing jury service. The declaration may be completed by the person or the person's personal representative. The jury coordinator of each county shall make available declaration forms for the purpose of this subsection (e). This subsection (e) does not prevent a person seventy-five (75) years of age or older from participating in jury service.

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