If jurors felt the same way about starting jury duty as they did after finishing it, one of Kelly Wejko's headaches would dissipate.
Kelly Wejko, Cayuga County Supreme and County courts clerk and commissioner of jurors, says many jurors are disappointed if they are not picked to serve on a jury or ask if they can volunteer to serve on a jury again. Jurors love learning about the legal system and being involved in the thick of it, she said.
But that positive attitude often only develops after exposure to the system. Instead, Wejko and her staff struggle with the large number of jurors who simply ignore the call for jury duty. So far this year, 220 Cayuga County residents have failed to show up for jury service.
“We can't believe how many people don't show up. We're flabbergasted,” Wejko said. Her office has a long-standing joke about the best excuse of the month a prospective juror offers to wiggle out of jury duty.
One juror has failed to appear 10 times since 2003. Other jurors have failed to answer their calls for jury duty three, four, five and six times.
Jurors who fail to show up for jury duty imperil the ability to guarantee that a trial can proceed as scheduled. In April, only 36 of 75 jurors appeared for an Auburn City Court trial, Wejko said.
Wejko's office must call large-enough jury panels to ensure there are enough jurors available to fill out a jury and alternate juror slots after jurors with legitimate excuses are dismissed and after other jurors are challenged by attorneys from both sides of a case. Wejko's office calls juries for Cayuga County Supreme Court, Cayuga County Court, Auburn City Court, the 23 town courts and the four village courts in Cayuga County.
Wejko recalls three scary city court jury pools with “such a low attendance there was some fear that it would be a complete and total failure.”
The decision was made last year to summon the worst noncompliant jurors to answer to a judicial hearing officer during a hearing.
Including the man who has skipped jury duty 10 times, nine people have been summoned to appear in a hearing in front of judicial hearing officer and retired Judge Robert Contiguglia at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 31. Contiguglia will determine if they willfully failed to comply with jury duty. If he finds they did, they must become certified for jury service and they must pay a fine up to $250.
During jury certification, jurors are given an overview of the jury's role in the legal system and shown a film about the evolution of the jury system.
A total of 4,500 jurors were utilized last year in Cayuga County between jurors who had to call in to see if they were needed at the courthouse and jurors who were actually summoned to the courthouse, Wejko said.
The county's jury pool is compiled from lists of people who've applied for driver's licenses, paid their state taxes, registered to vote or received public assistance or unemployment insurance.
The county has 35,000 prospective jurors. Cayuga County jurors must be citizens of the United States, residents of the county, 18 years or older, without felony convictions and able to understand English. Jurors who complete their service do not have to serve for another six years if they served on a petit jury or for another decade if they served on a grand jury.
Juror qualification questionnaires are sent out to qualify residents as prospective jurors. It takes 5,000 juror qualification questionnaires to get a pool of 1,500 qualified jurors, Wejko said.
Misdemeanor and lower-level offenses requires jurors of six people and one or two alternate jurors. Felony jurors require 12 jurors and two alternates.
Jurors who fulfill their civic duty by responding to the calls for jury duty are deeply appreciated, Wejko said.
“It's an undue hardship on good citizens who do all the hard work,” Wejko said. “We certainly understand it's an inconvenience every time to stop your life and and come and do what we need you to do.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
But that positive attitude often only develops after exposure to the system. Instead, Wejko and her staff struggle with the large number of jurors who simply ignore the call for jury duty. So far this year, 220 Cayuga County residents have failed to show up for jury service.
“We can't believe how many people don't show up. We're flabbergasted,” Wejko said. Her office has a long-standing joke about the best excuse of the month a prospective juror offers to wiggle out of jury duty.
One juror has failed to appear 10 times since 2003. Other jurors have failed to answer their calls for jury duty three, four, five and six times.
Jurors who fail to show up for jury duty imperil the ability to guarantee that a trial can proceed as scheduled. In April, only 36 of 75 jurors appeared for an Auburn City Court trial, Wejko said.
Wejko's office must call large-enough jury panels to ensure there are enough jurors available to fill out a jury and alternate juror slots after jurors with legitimate excuses are dismissed and after other jurors are challenged by attorneys from both sides of a case. Wejko's office calls juries for Cayuga County Supreme Court, Cayuga County Court, Auburn City Court, the 23 town courts and the four village courts in Cayuga County.
Wejko recalls three scary city court jury pools with “such a low attendance there was some fear that it would be a complete and total failure.”
The decision was made last year to summon the worst noncompliant jurors to answer to a judicial hearing officer during a hearing.
Including the man who has skipped jury duty 10 times, nine people have been summoned to appear in a hearing in front of judicial hearing officer and retired Judge Robert Contiguglia at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 31. Contiguglia will determine if they willfully failed to comply with jury duty. If he finds they did, they must become certified for jury service and they must pay a fine up to $250.
During jury certification, jurors are given an overview of the jury's role in the legal system and shown a film about the evolution of the jury system.
A total of 4,500 jurors were utilized last year in Cayuga County between jurors who had to call in to see if they were needed at the courthouse and jurors who were actually summoned to the courthouse, Wejko said.
The county's jury pool is compiled from lists of people who've applied for driver's licenses, paid their state taxes, registered to vote or received public assistance or unemployment insurance.
The county has 35,000 prospective jurors. Cayuga County jurors must be citizens of the United States, residents of the county, 18 years or older, without felony convictions and able to understand English. Jurors who complete their service do not have to serve for another six years if they served on a petit jury or for another decade if they served on a grand jury.
Juror qualification questionnaires are sent out to qualify residents as prospective jurors. It takes 5,000 juror qualification questionnaires to get a pool of 1,500 qualified jurors, Wejko said.
Misdemeanor and lower-level offenses requires jurors of six people and one or two alternate jurors. Felony jurors require 12 jurors and two alternates.
Jurors who fulfill their civic duty by responding to the calls for jury duty are deeply appreciated, Wejko said.
“It's an undue hardship on good citizens who do all the hard work,” Wejko said. “We certainly understand it's an inconvenience every time to stop your life and and come and do what we need you to do.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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