Petit Jurors

St. Louis – the term of jury service is for a two-week period. Usually jurors only report one time for selection during the term, and trials average 3-4 days long. If you are selected to serve on a trial which exceeds the service period, you will be required to serve until the completion of the trial. You are instructed to call the Automated Jury Information phone (AJIS) or check your Current Status online through eJuror on the date and time indicated on your summons. You will either report on the summons date or be rescheduled to another date during the two-week time period and instructed to call after 4:30 pm on the last business day for further instructions or changes. Usually jury selections are held only on Mondays and Wednesdays. If the Monday is a federal holiday, jurors are scheduled to report on Tuesday.

Cape Girardeau – Petit jurors are on call for a six-month term.

Hannibal- Petit jurors are on call for a six-month term.

On-call means you may be called to serve during that time period. You are not expected to be available every day during the term, and the court can schedule your appearance around vacation dates and other conflicts. You do not need to report until you a notified by mail of a specific reporting date. The court sends out notices to report approximately 10 days to 2 weeks in advance. The written notice will contain information for reporting and calling the automated phone or checking online through eJuror to confirm whether or not you need to appear on the scheduled reporting date.

Grand Jurors – Grand jurors serve for one year and may be extended if necessary.

• St. Louis grand jurors normally meet 1-2 days every other week
• Cape Girardeau grand jurors usually convene once a month.
• Grand jurors scheduled vacations can be accommodated.

You have been summoned for the United States District Court, and jurors come from a number of counties to serve.

For the Eastern Division, the Courthouse is located in the city of St Louis but petit and grand jurors are summoned from the City of St. Louis and the following 13 counties: Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Jefferson, Lincoln, Maries, Phelps, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington.

For the Southeastern Division, the Courthouse is located in Cape Girardeau, but petit and grand jurors are summoned from the following 18 counties: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Iron, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Ste. Genevieve, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, and Wayne.

For the Northern Division, the Courthouse is located in Hannibal, but petit and grand jurors are summoned from the following 17 counties: Adair, Audrain, Chariton, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Macon, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Ralls, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland, and Shelby. For grand juries serving in St. Louis, jurors are summoned from both the Eastern and Northern Divisions.

Federal law requires that you fully complete the Juror Qualification Questionnaire even though you may be exempted or are seeking to be excused.  The Court may determine that you be excused from service, for example, if you have moved out of the district or you are not a citizen of the United States.  Regardless of your circumstances, however, the Questionnaire must be completed as directed in the instructions.

During your term of service, if you have a scheduled vacation or other specific dates you will be unable to serve, please notify:

For St. Louis or Hannibal-the jury clerks at (314) 244-7850 or toll free (866)510-1925.

For Cape Girardeau-the jury clerk at (573)331-8800.

Or,

You may write these dates on the Juror Information form which you return to the Court or submit a Partial Excuse request through eJuror after completing the Juror Information Form.

If you have a compelling reason to be excused from jury service or deferred to a later term, you must submit your request in writing along with your completed Juror Information Form. The request to be excused must detail the hardship.

If you have a physical or mental impairment which you believe would prevent you from serving as a juror, the Court requires a recent statement from your doctor stating your inability to serve as a juror, signed by a D.O., M.D., Nurse Practitioner, or Audiologist. Even if you are requesting to be excused for medical reasons, you must complete the Juror Qualification Questionnaire or if summoned, the Juror Information Form. The doctor’s note can be faxed to 314-244-7859, emailed to moedml_jury@moed.uscourts.gov, or mailed to the Court.

Please do NOT wait until you are to appear to submit a request to be excused or deferred from your term of service.

The Court has implemented 6-foot social distance seating in the Jury Assembly Room and Courtrooms, will provide you with a mask or you can bring your own, and has gloves available for your use. There are hand sanitizing stations in high traffic areas, and hand sanitizer is available inside the jury assembly room. Daily sanitizing of common areas is also being performed.

Both civil and criminal cases are tried in Federal Court. Civil cases can include personal injury claims, medical malpractice claims, claims for breach of contract, and claims for the violation of civil rights. Criminal cases can include drug charges and fraud.

You will need to bring a valid photo ID to go through security at the Courthouse. Please be sure to bring your summons for check-in. Cell phones and laptops are permitted in the building, but they MUST be completely turned off when you are in the Courtroom and during juror orientation. You may bring food, books, and magazines. Items not permitted in the Courthouse include firearms, knitting needles, scissors, sewing needles, mace, fingernail clippers and knives of any kind.

A $50.00 attendance fee is paid for each day you are required to and do report for duty, whether or not you are selected to serve on a trial. You will be paid 65.5 cents per mile round trip from your home to the Courthouse as reimbursement for your travel expense. The Court has an automated program to determine the miles from your address to the Courthouse, so you do not need to track your mileage. Checks are mailed to jurors twice a month. The jury payment files are sent to a central check facility in Kansas City on the 15th and the last day of the month and checks usually issue about 3 business days later. Federal employees receive attendance fees only on their regularly scheduled day(s) off.

Juror attendance fees are considered income and should be reported to the IRS on your tax form. The Court issues a 1099 MISC tax form to all jurors who have earned $600.00 or more in jury service fees during a calendar year. However, if you earned less than $600.00 in fees, this income should be reported on your tax form. Payments for mileage, parking, and subsistence are not considered income, but expense reimbursements and are not taxable.

Trials in this Court have up until 4:30p.m. on the last business day before trial to be settled, disposed, or continued. This Court only summons the number of jurors needed for the cases that are actually going to trial. In this way the Court can avoid having jurors report who will not go to a Courtroom for jury selection.