Federal law requires that you complete the juror questionnaire within 10 days of receipt of your summons notice and/or a paper questionnaire.  A completed questionnaire is required.  You will be afforded an opportunity within the questionnaire to request to be excused, if you believe that to be necessary.

The personal information you provide on your juror questionnaire and during the jury selection process will be used during the jury selection process only.  The information will not become public record.

To complete your qualification questionnaire, click the icon below.  You will need your nine(9) digit juror participant number.

 

 

Notice to Juror: We have been informed of delays in the receipt of jury summons and are actively monitoring the situation.  If you have received your summons 10 days after the initial summons date, you will not be penalized.  In an effort to assist, the Court will be issuing a follow up notice with a paper questionnaire.  Please respond to the summons online or wait for the paper questionnaire to arrive.  If you wait for the paper questionnaire to arrive, the Court asks you to respond immediately upon receipt, so we may determine your eligibility to serve and process any excuse requests. 

Call the Jury Information Line at 1 (866) 249-5932 (toll free) after 3:00 pm on the Friday immediately proceeding your Monday two-week on-call period. Press option #1 and enter your nine-digit participant number located on the right side of the front page of your Summons, below your two-week on-call term.

To check reporting instructions online, click the icon below:

Follow the reporting instructions given by the court’s Jury Information Line. This automated message will advise you as to what date, time and courthouse location to report to, as well as when to call again for updated instructions. Jurors are not required to call every day.

Do Not Report to a courthouse location without first checking your reporting instructions.

If you are required to Report:

 

Jury Service - Yakima Location: William O. Douglas Courthouse, 25 S. 3rd Street, Yakima, Washington

Jury Service - Richland Location: U.S. Courthouse & Federal Building, 825 Jadwin Avenue, Richland, Washington

Eastern Washington - Juror Orientation Video

Called to Serve - jury orientation video

Juror Checks are mailed within two weeks of service from the U.S. Treasury.

If you are not selected, within two weeks from the date of selection proceedings.  If you are selected, within two weeks from the conclusion of the trial.

Juror Attendance Fee: $50.00 per day (Jurors that travel 60 miles or more one-way also get the attendance fee for the travel day)

Mileage Reimbursement:  $0.70 cents per mile

Overnight Per Diem: For jurors who reside 60 miles or more one-way from the courthouse and stay overnight:

Hotel  - Yakima: $178.00 hotel per diem ($110.00 hotel subsistence + $68.00 meals and incidentals). Note: When making hotel reservations, be sure to let the hotel know you are a Federal Court juror and request a government rate.  If lodging is in excess of the per diem, the juror is responsible for the overage.  We will need a copy of your hotel receipt.  Click here for a list of Yakima Hotels.

Family - Yakima: $68.00 partial per diem for jurors who reside 60 miles or more one-way from the courthouse and stay with family or friends.

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Hotel - Richland: $216.00 hotel per diem ($130.00 hotel subsistence + $86.00 meals and incidentals).  Note: When making hotel reservations, be sure to let the hotel know you are a Federal Court juror and request a government rate.  If lodging is in excess of the per diem, the juror is responsible for the overage.  We will need a copy of your hotel receipt.  Click here for a list of Richland Hotels.

Family - Richland: $86.00 partial per diem for juros who reside 60 miles or more one-way from the courthouse and stay with family or friends.
 

The IRS considers juror attendance fees to be Other Income and must be reported. At the end of each year a 1099 MISC form will be mailed to all jurors who earn $600 or more in attendance fees in the calendar year. This applies only to the "attendance fee" and not for reimbursement for travel expenses (mileage, tolls, etc.).

If you believe you should be excused from jury service because jury service would cause undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, you may submit your excuse request during your online completion of the questionnaire, or by writing it in the “Remarks” section of the paper questionnaire.

All requests for excuse must be in writing, telephonic requests are not accepted/processed. The Court will not consider employer requests.

Please allow ten days for the court to process your excuse request. To obtain the status of your excuse request, call the Jury Information Line and select option #1.

Should your request for excuse be denied, you may speak further to the Judge when you come to the courthouse for jury selection.

If you do not fill out the questionnaire online (or request a paper  questionnaire) within 10 days of receiving your summons, you may be ordered to appear and explain why you failed to fulfill your legal obligation, fined up to $1,000, imprisoned up to three days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination of those.

Title 28, United States Code, Section 1866(g) provides, “Any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed may be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and show cause for failure to comply with the summons.  Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned not more than 3 days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination thereof.”

Every two years, prospective grand and petit juror names are randomly drawn from two sources:

1.  general election voter registration lists, and
2.  the records of holders of drivers’ licenses and identification cards.

Those lists are then combined to create the Jury Wheel.  A random selection of names from our Jury Wheel are then drawn and mailed a summons and directed to qualify for consideration of federal jury service. Citizen residents within the Eastern District of Washington, who are deemed qualified to serve as jurors based upon their answers to the questionnaire, are to serve a two-week on-call jury term. 

Our Court's Jury Plan establishes how we select grand and petit juries at random from a fair cross-section of the community in the district wherein the court convenes.

 Jury Service Overview - A brief animated video produced by the United States Courts