Prospective O.C. Jurors’ Wait to Be Cut to 1 Day

Starting Jan. 4, Orange County residents will spend just a single day waiting to be selected to jury panels, county court officials said Thursday, ending the current month of uncertainty that potential jurors must endure.

Under the new jury management plan, prospective jurors won’t be called again for an entire year if they are not immediately sworn in for service.

“When jurors hear about this, they will jump up in the air and click their heels,” said James M. Brooks, presiding judge of the Orange County Municipal Court. “It’s still like going to the dentist, but they can just hold their breath and it will be over in one day.”

But the courts, strapped for cash, will also eliminate the $5 daily stipend and mileage payments now given to those not selected for jury service at Superior and Municipal courthouses throughout the county, said Jury Commissioner Alan Slater. Federal courts are not affected by the new policy.

For the more than 500,000 Orange County residents expected to be called for jury duty in 1993, the new system will mean less time waiting--and waiting--around the jury room, and will reduce the burden on employers countywide, officials said. It is also expected to save the court system $250,000 in the second half of fiscal 1993--or $500,000 over a full fiscal year.

“Anything that reduces the time you have to wait around sounds good to me,” said Darlene Hayes, 28, of Garden Grove, who, like most jurors interviewed in the Orange County Courthouse on Thursday, said she was pleased with the change.

Under the current system, jurors--who are selected from lists provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles and the county registrar of voters--are obligated to the court system for one month. In the last year, an estimated 300,000 jurors were ordered to appear on their summons dates, and were often called back, either the following day or on later dates. Some were required to phone in to see if they were needed, Slater said.

The result was that jurors and their employers did not know for a month whether an unanticipated day away from work would be necessary. The court system was forced to pay for jurors who often were waiting in courthouses but not serving on a jury, Slater said.

“It hurts not to pay jurors, but we worked extra hard to make sure there would be a greater advantage for them,” added Slater, who said the cuts were needed in the wake of a $6.5-million reduction in county trial-court funding during this year’s state budget crisis. “We call it one-day, one-trial service.”

Beginning Jan. 4, jurors will appear in court for orientation and possible assignment on the day they are summoned to appear. Unless they are seated for questioning, or chosen for a civil or criminal jury on that date, they will be excused and exempted from jury service for one year, Slater said.

If the untested system results in a shortage of jurors, the courts may impose a requirement that jurors call in for a second day of possible assignments, a prospect currently considered unlikely, Slater said.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Donald B. Smallwood said he believes the new system offers a “trade-off of greater certainty” for both employers and jurors.

“We don’t think it will adversely impact the trial schedule,” Smallwood said.

Attorney Michelle A. Reinglass, incoming president of the Orange County Bar Assn., agreed.

Tom Wilck, incoming chairman of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, said jury duty is often a burden for smaller businesses left shorthanded when employees are suddenly called for jury duty.

“I know, because I was called for jury duty last year, and the hardest part is not knowing if you’re going to be called, or when it will end. So this seems like a better system,” said Wilck, who owns an Irvine public relations firm.

Some employers continue to pay their workers during jury service, while others do not. Some jurors who continue to receive salaries said Thursday that they turn over their court stipend to their employers. They said they do not believe the new system will impose a financial hardship on many.

“The money is just a pittance--I’d rather have the time off without worrying about being called back,” said juror Linda Smith, 40, a Huntington Beach nurse. “It’s just giving back the tax dollars, so I don’t have a problem with it.”

Slater said that automation will keep the new system working smoothly. An estimated 200,000 more jurors will be needed annually due to the quicker turnaround, he said. Since 1991, the court system has seen an increase in jurors as part of an effort to fast-track civil and criminal trials.

Brooks, who said he often sees jurors “mumbling and grumbling” about jury duty, believes that the new system could turn around negative attitudes about jury service. “It will make them feel better about it.”

Jury Costs

Orange County jurors are paid a $5 daily stipend plus mileage costs for one-way travel. The daily average juror cost amounts to $6.50. The new jury system, beginning Jan. 4, is expected to save up to $250,000 in the second half of fiscal 1993. Total jury costs: 1992-93: $1.8 million* * Estimated Source: Orange County Superior Court