Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.
Each day hundreds of Las Vegas Valley residents flood the Clark County courthouse in downtown Las Vegas to complete their civic duty of jury service.
As a steady increase of criminal and civil trials continues to clog Clark County's criminal justice system, officials are scrambling to ensure that there are enough jurors to sit in judgment of their peers.
County officials say the call for more jurors is yet another symptom of a rapidly growing criminal justice system. Recently, for instance, 500 potential jurors were summoned for 10 criminal and civil trials that were to get under way that day.
The court saw a marked increase in jury trials last year. In 2003, Clark County had 377 jury trials, compared with 296 jury trials in 2002, Michael Sommermeyer, court spokesman, said.
"We're fueling the beast, as it were," he said. " We're one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Because of that we're going to see more court cases. The more case filings increase, the more jurors we need. And that growth is going to continue."
The department that oversees jury service in Clark County got a boost during the 2003 Legislature, when a series of changes were made to the laws governing jury duty.
Among the changes was the doubling of jurors' daily pay and the elimination of automatic exemptions for doctors, attorneys, law enforcement officers and railroad workers.
Jury Commissioner Judy Rowland said she hopes the new rules will help residents gain a better understanding of how jury service works and why it is important.
"People have such a misconception about what we do," she said. "It's not all bad. It's a privilege to serve on a jury. You're serving society."
Some residents who were summoned for service recently said they were looking forward to the possibility of sitting on a jury.
Helen Sennewald, a longtime Las Vegas resident who owns a small business, was summoned but ultimately wasn't selected to serve.
"I wanted to serve on a jury," she said. "I thought it would be an interesting experience. I've been a resident for 12 years. I think it's about time."
Sennewald arrived at the courthouse at 8 a.m. She was dismissed about 2:30 p.m., after being called into two courtrooms and not being selected for either jury panel.
The day wasn't a total loss, however, Sennewald said. She said she enjoyed learning about the criminal justice system by watching the attorneys select prospective jurors.
"It was a learning experience," she said. "Just viewing what goes on in a courtroom (during jury selection) was interesting to me. I had no idea."
People who are less eager than Sennewald to serve on a jury are having a harder time getting out of jury duty these days.
In the past, people who were not automatically excused could obtain excuses over the phone. Under the new rules, if a person has a medical condition or another special circumstance and wishes to be excused, the request must be presented in person and the person can only be excused by a judge.
Residents who are 70 years old and older or residents who are 65 and older and also live more than 55 miles from the courthouse can choose not to serve, Rowland said. They only need to call in and do not have to come to the courthouse, she said.
Rowland said the new rules governing jury service are more straightforward, which most jurors seem to appreciate. Few people complain, she said.
"They'll fight you tooth and nail in the beginning," she said. "But after they've had a positive experience, most of them have changed their mind about jury service and they're more than willing to do it again."
Jurors are selected at random by a computer program called the ACS Juror Management System, made by Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., and used by courts throughout the country, Rowland said. The software draws from motor-vehicle records and is updated twice a year, she said.
There are more than a million names in the juror pool, Rowland said.
The software ensures that anyone who has served on a jury in the last two years won't be called for duty, she added. Sommermeyer noted that you must actually serve on a jury for at least a day, not just get called, to get the two-year exemption.
Summonses are sent out randomly by ZIP code.
Rowland acknowledged that some people seem to get called for jury duty regularly, others not at all.
"We have no explanation for that," she said. Selection is "totally random, I'm serious. It's totally done by the computer."
A pool of about 30 potential jurors is required for each civil trial and a pool of about 40 potential jurors is required for the average criminal trial, Rowland said.
In criminal trials in which the penalty is a possible sentence of life in prison or a death sentence, court officials call about 60 to 80 potential jurors. Construction defect cases require up to 100 potential jurors, Rowland said.
Still, many jurors who are summoned are never even required to show up at court.
Residents who receive a summons must call jury services the night before they are required to appear, at which time they are told whether they have to show up the next day. Many people are told they don't have to appear.
"It happens," Rowland said. "District Court is so iffy. We never know when a trial is going to be settled or when a case is going to plead out. We have to be prepared."
Prospective jurors who do show up still could not be called to a courtroom for jury selection. Many prospective jurors are called to a courtroom but are dismissed by attorneys during the jury selection process, called voir dire.
Verlia Hoggard, former director of the Clark County Welfare Department who is now retired, arrived at the courthouse on a recent Monday for jury duty at 7:45 a.m. and wasn't dismissed until about 4 p.m.
She was called into a courtroom for a criminal case, but was dismissed at the request of attorneys, she said.
"I was dismissed for cause," she said. "I believe that because of my background, they thought I might be biased."
Hoggard said parking for prospective jurors was difficult. Jurors are encouraged to park in a parking structure near the Fremont Street Experience, about two blocks away. The courthouse validates parking tickets for jurors.
"It was too long a process," Hoggard said. "It was a negative experience and I hope I never have to do it again."
In the past, prospective jurors like Hoggard would have been paid a $9 reporting fee plus mileage to and from the courthouse, even though she wasn't selected for a jury panel.
Jurors used to be paid $15 per day for the first five days and $30 for service from the sixth day on.
The 2003 Legislature eliminated the reporting fee, however, and jurors are now paid a flat rate of $40 each day once they are selected.
One prospective juror who was not selected for service said she was disappointed to hear that she would not be compensated for reporting to the courthouse.
"I think they should give you something for coming down," said Elizabeth Phelps, who spent about six and a half hours at the courthouse before being dismissed.
Phelps said she had arranged for her sister come to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City because she didn't have anyone to watch her two children while she reported for jury duty.
She said she found the process educational, but said she imagines it is difficult for most parents to arrange child care.
"It inconveniences your life," she said. "I think we should be compensated."
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