Juror Summons

The Court has adopted a one-day, one-trial system for jury service in Marin County, as many other trial courts have done. This means that jurors are not on-call for an entire week, which was the system in all California counties just a few years ago. Now, jurors are summoned for a "date certain", and if they are not needed, they are released until summoned again. In some rare instances, jurors' dates may be changed, or continued, after they receive their summons. The Court believes that one-day, one-trial is a superior alternative to the old system, as it is less burdensome on jurors. The Court is very appreciative of the participation of summoned jurors in ensuring that a sufficient number of jurors are available to ensure fair and impartial jury trials.

The Court receives regular updates to its master list of Marin County residents eligible to perform jury service. These updates come from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Marin County Registrar of Voters and the list of resident state tax filers from the Franchise Tax Board. Tens of thousands of juror names are provided by each agency. The Court randomly selects a subset of jurors from the master list and sends jury summons notices to those prospective jurors. This process is completely random, meaning that the same name may be chosen several years in a row or may not be chosen for many years and, in some cases, may never be chosen.

Summoned jurors must confirm with the Court whether they are required to appear for jury service after 5:00 p.m. (including weekends) the day before they are scheduled to appear. Please note that prospective jurors may be required to stay at the courthouse for the entire day while jury selection proceeds on one or many cases. To verify an appearance as a prospective juror, reschedule the date summoned or hear the answers to frequently asked questions, please call the Jury Services Automated System at (415) 444-7120 or use the ONLINE System for Jurors.

Prospective jurors, when sent to a courtroom, are required to pass through court security screening on the Court Floor of the Civic Center. For a list of items that will not be permitted in the courtrooms, please click here. Please note that any items confiscated by security personnel will not be returned to you.