You have been randomly selected as a prospective juror for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington for a two-week on-call term of service. Your term of jury service begins on the date shown on your Summons.
You will need your nine-digit participant number to access your reporting instructions. This number appears on the left side of the front page of your Summons, below your two-week on-call term.
You are only required to travel to the courthouse when specifically instructed to do so via the reporting instructions. If you call and are not needed to report during the first week of your term, please keep in mind you may be required to report during the time remaining in your term, so continue to call in as instructed during your entire term.
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.
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 Location: Thomas S. Foley, United States Courthouse, 920 West Riverside Avenue, Room 751, Spokane, Washington.
Attire: While no formal dress code exists, jurors are requested to dress in a manner respectful to the litigants and the Court. The courtrooms are generally very cool, so you may want to bring a sweater or light jacket.
Please Bring: A copy of your summons and photo identification with you when you report for jury duty.
Mileage: If you are traveling to report for jury service by vehicle, remember to track your one-way mileage from your home to the courthouse and you will be reimbursed accordingly.
Reside More than 60-miles away: If you live more than 60 miles from the courthouse, and your report time is in the morning, you are entitled to travel the day before your report date and stay overnight. Please travel on the assumption you may be required to stay the week, if selected as a juror. Click here for a link to Spokane Hotels. 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. Please be prepared to show them your jury summons if needed.
Guests: You may bring a guest to join you for the orientation and they may also go into the courtroom and sit in the gallery for the selection process.
Resource: Handbook for Trial Jurors
Parking: Public parking lots/garages are available. Jurors are reimbursed an $9.25 flat fee for those who pay to park in a lot/garage. DO NOT park at a meter as selection takes several hours. Click here for link to Parking Locations
Riverpark Square ‐ parking garage entrances at Lincoln Street (corner of Lincoln and Main), as well Spokane Falls Blvd. (across from City Hall and Riverfront Park). 6’6” vehicle clearance and offers "early bird" parking discount for full day parking (arrivals prior to 9:30am).
Diamond Parking ‐ lots located at 919 W 1st Street or 121 S Monroe Street.
Disabled Parking – A person who displays a disabled license plate or placard hanging from their mirror may park at a parking meter for free up to 4 hours.
Entrance and Screening into the Courthouse: A person seeking entrance to a Federal court facility must present valid, government issued ID, such as a driver’s license or state ID. Upon entering the building, you will pass through a screening station staffed by Court Security Officers (CSO’s). The CSO’s will check the contents of all bags, packages, briefcases and other containers by passing them through an X-ray machine. You will be required to walk through a metal detector. Individuals with pacemakers or cochlear implants may request screening via a handheld wand.
Proceed to the Jury Assembly Room: Please check in for jury service in the Jury Assembly Room located in Room 751.
Orientation/Selection: Jury orientation typically lasts an hour, and includes the viewing of an informational video. Afterward, you will proceed to the courtroom for jury selection. The duration of jury selection is dependent upon the case at hand, and may take up to a full day. If you are selected, your trial will generally begin on the day you report. You will be advised of the length of trial during the selection process.
Tablets and Cell Phones: Tablets and cellular phones may be used in the hallways, lobbies, and other areas of the courthouse. No device may be operated in camera, record, or video mode. Unless otherwise ordered by the presiding judge, jurors will not be allowed to use a laptop computer, smart phone, tablet or other electronic device within the courtroom.
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
Parking: $9.25 flat fee for those who pay to park in a lot/facility. Jurors are responsible for any parking violation tickets issued. Public parking lots/facilities are available. DO NOT park at a meter as selection takes several hours.
Overnight Per Diem: For jurors who reside 60 miles or more one-way from the courthouse and stay overnight:
Hotel - $212.00 hotel per diem ($126.00 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 link to Spokane Hotels.
Family - $86.00 partial per diem for jurors 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.
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
Contact the Jury Department