Many Are Called But Few Will Serve Only 28 Percent Of County Residents Summoned Become Part Of Jury Pool

More than 21,000 residents of Spokane County were summoned for jury duty in 1999, but only 28 percent actually showed up to become part of a jury pool.

Though the paltry percentage is in keeping with the national average, local and state officials want to increase citizen awareness about the importance of jury duty.

As a result, Gov. Gary Locke declared this week Washington Juror Appreciation Week.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said citizen participation isn’t necessarily low because people are apathetic to the judicial system. Many often cite personal and professional schedule conflicts as well as financial hardships.

“In more recent years we’ve done a better job of managing their time better and trying to be more willing to accommodate them,” Eitzen said. “But it’s still a challenge.”

Court figures show that 22 percent of the summonses sent last year went to bad addresses. Only 8 percent of those receiving a summons didn’t respond at all. There is no penalty for not responding to the summons.

At the same time, Eitzen said choosing jurors who don’t want to serve can be a double-edged sword.

“Do we really, really want people who don’t want to be here to serve?” she said. “We have people report who have a bad attitude about having to be here.”

When someone receives a summons they are automatically required to serve two weeks of jury duty. Court administrator Dave Hardy said reducing that service to one week would probably be more appealing to potential jurors.

However, such a change would cost more, because more summonses would have to be mailed out.

And for most people, jury duty is a financial inconvenience. Though an employer must let employees off for jury duty, employers don’t have to pay absent workers.

Most counties statewide, including Spokane, pay jurors $10 a day, plus mileage. Paying a higher stipend to jurors would also be costly.

Last year, reimbursing jurors cost Spokane County’s superior, district and municipal courts $322,458.

Jurors last year served an average of two to three days, Hardy said.

Eitzen, Hardy and other court officials hope to tap into the community’s vein of civic duty in their efforts to draw more jurors.

Juror rates of participation did increase after 1994, when county officials updated the database of names containing prospective jurors.

The database used to contain only the names of registered voters. Now it includes all county residents with driver’s licenses.

“What that’s done is brought more young people to the juror pool,” Eitzen said. “It’s been good to get them on juries and impress upon them the sense of responsibility.

“Our whole system of justice is dependant upon people responding to jury summonses and meeting their civic duty,” she said.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

HONORING JURORS

In Spokane today, a special ceremony to honor jurors will be held in the jurors lounge on the third floor of the Spokane County Courthouse, 1116 W. Broadway. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which starts at 8:30 a.m.