This was the second juror summons that I have received since moving back from Portland, Oregon. The last time I was summoned, I was dismissed because I had not been living in Etowah County for the previous twelve months - as is required for a prospective juror.
So this morning I showed up at the county courthouse to perform my civic duty. One major difference between last time and this time is that I remember that only a few of those who had been summoned did not show up, but this time, it seemed like at least half of those summoned were not there. Which meant that I was pretty sure that I would be chosen for jury duty. But Alabama has changed... Ever since the budget crisis in Alabama happened, the state has been looking for ways to save money. One way they decided to save money was by having the judges schedule jury trials for the same time - so that the juror pool spends the least amount of time waiting. However today only a few judges had jury trials on their docket. Of those, one juror pool was assembled of thirty prospective jurors. Once that group was seated and organized for going to the court, the rest of us were asked to wait for a possible second juror pool for the next possible jury trial. Shortly before 11:00, another group was assembled for the second juror pool. I was the last one chosen. After we were seated, we were given some instructions and were told that we would know shortly if we were going to be called into court. We then received news that both possible jury trials that we were gathered for had been settled and that we might be needed later - but for the time being, we were free for lunch.
When we came back from lunch, the two prospective juries were again seated. The first prospective jury was taken to their trial for questioning by the attorneys. The second prospective jury - of which I was still a member - was told that only one judge left had a possible jury trial. Later, we were assembled again to be told that no judge would need another and we were going to be dismissed.
To complete our civic duty we were asked if we need a certificate of juror service for our employers and how many miles were travelled from our homes to the judicial building. Of course, I didn't need a certificate but I reported my round trip was about 22 miles. For my "civic duty," I was paid a total of $11.10 - $10.00 for the day, and $0.05 per mile for the travel.
Yippee!
Oh well, back to work tomorrow...
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