Judicial committee to study jury pool diversity

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006 | 8 a.m.

A judicial committee is being formed in response to articles written by the Sun suggesting that Clark County's jury pools lack diversity.

Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle said the committee is being formed "to see what steps should be taken to increase our jury participation and determine the feasibility on keeping stats determining a juror's ethnic designation."

Hardcastle cited the articles and addressed the issue during a judges' meeting in November. She has asked for judges to contact her if they would like to serve on the committee.

In an October article in the Sun, Clark County court officials said at least 85 percent of the adult population is represented in local jury pools.

But those same court officials admitted they don't know the races, ethnicities or ZIP codes of the people summoned for jury duty, so the county has no documentation to show that minorities and people from lower socio-economic levels are being adequately represented.

The county selects potential jurors from the lists of people who have driver's licenses or state identification cards. Critics have said the system creates jury pools that fail to fully reflect the diversity of the county's population.

Critics say the county should draw on other lists, saying that not all people drive or have identification cards. Also, they contend that many people who are poor move more and are in most cases less apt to keep their addresses current with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

As a result of the criticism and questions raised in the Sun, court officials have begun working with Nevada Power Co. in an effort to use its customer list for jury pools.

Matt Pordum can be reached at 474-7406 or at pordum@lasvegassun.com.