Broward County judges are encouraging residents who receive a jury summons to show up, saying jury service is one of the few ways ordinary people can take part directly in the justice system. Judges Shari Africk-Olefson, Jose Izquierdo, Florence Taylor Barner and Kenneth Gillespie spoke about the process in a series of interviews.
To serve, jurors must be 18 or older, have their voting rights intact or restored, and live in Broward County. Residents who have moved away but still have a Broward driver’s license should contact the court rather than ignore the summons, the judges said.
Automatic excusals are limited. They include people over 70 who ask to be excused, expectant parents, caregivers of newborns up to six months old, certain full-time parents and full-time students ages 18 to 21. Being self-employed or needing to pick up children from school does not, by itself, get someone out of service. Judges can sometimes write a letter to an employer, and jurors with scheduling conflicts should call the jury room before their reporting date. Postponements can last months.
Jurors report to the third floor of the courthouse’s north wing, and the judges advised bringing a sweater because the building is cold. Panels can include 150 to 200 people before smaller groups move through selection. Most cases take one to three days, according to Izquierdo. Regularly paid workers generally are not compensated separately for the first three days of service.
Once deliberations begin, judges are not involved, and jurors decide the facts and the verdict on their own. Jurors may discuss the case after the verdict is delivered.
