Jury Service in Texas

Along with voting, serving on a jury is one of the highest civic duties you can perform. Your actions and decisions on a jury are the very foundation of our judicial system.

Here are a few basic questions and answers about jury service in Texas:

How was I selected?
You were selected at random from a list of voter registrations and a list of driver registrations from the county in which you live.

Am I eligible?
A juror must: be a citizen of the United States and Texas; be at least 18 years of age; reside in the county of jury service; be able to read and write; and be of sound mind.

You cannot serve on a jury if you have been convicted of a felony or of any type of theft (unless rights have been restored); you are now on probation or deferred adjudication for a felony or for any type of theft; or you are now under indictment for a felony or are now under criminal charges for any type of theft.

Who can be excused from jury service?
You are entitled to be excused as a juror if you: are over 70 years of age; have legal custody of a child under 10 years of age and jury service would leave the child unsupervised; are a student in class; are the care-taker of a person who is unable to care for themselves (an invalid) or can show a physical or mental impairment or an inability to comprehend or to communicate in English; or are a member of the U.S. military forces serving on active duty and deployed to a location away from your home station and out of your country of resident.

Will I be paid for being a juror?
Yes. You will be paid a minimum of $6 for each day you actually serve on the jury.

Are there rules about jury conduct?
Yes. The Texas Supreme Court has rules to assist you in your conduct as a juror, which will be given to you by the judge.

How is a juror selected for a particular case?
Cases will usually be heard by juries of six or 12 jurors. A larger group, called a panel, will be sent to the courtroom, where the jurors will be questioned under the supervision of the judge. A juror may be excused from the panel if it is shown that the juror cannot act impartially concerning the case to be heard. In addition, each side is allowed to remove a given number of jurors from the panel without having to show any reason. The trial jury will be the first six or 12 of the remaining jurors on the panel.

Must my employer pay me while I am on jury duty?
Your employer is not required to pay you while on jury duty; however, employers are prohibited by law from firing an employee for serving as a juror.

Not all of these rules apply in Justice of the Peace or municipal courts.

The above information is excerpted and adapted from the brochure "Texas Uniform Jury Handbook," prepared by the Texas Young Lawyers Association and published by the State Bar of Texas.