North Carolina § 9-6 - Jury service a public duty; excuses to be allowed in exceptional cases; procedure.

§ 9-6. Jury service a public duty; excuses to be allowed in exceptional cases; procedure.

The General Assembly hereby declares the public policy of this State to be that jury service is the solemn obligation of all qualified citizens, and that excuses from the discharge of this responsibility should be granted only for reasons of compelling personal hardship or because requiring service would be contrary to the public welfare, health, or safety. Pursuant to the foregoing policy, each chief district court judge shall promulgate procedures whereby he or any district court judge of his district court district designated by him, prior to the date that a jury session (or sessions) of superior or district court convenes, shall receive, hear, and pass on applications for excuses from jury duty. The procedures shall provide for the time and place, publicly announced, at which applications for excuses will be heard, and prospective jurors who have been summoned for service shall be so informed. In counties located in a district or set of districts as defined in G.S. 7A-41.1(a) which have a trial court administrator, the chief district judge may assign the duty of passing on applications for excuses from jury service to the administrator. In all cases concerning excuses, the clerk of court or the trial court administrator shall notify prospective jurors of the disposition of their excuses. A prospective juror who is summoned for jury service in a session of court scheduled during a period of time when the prospective juror is taking classes or exams as a full-time student enrolled at an out-of-state postsecondary public or private educational institution, including any out-of-state trade or professional institution, college, or university, shall be excused from jury service upon request made pursuant to G.S. 9-6.1(a) and supported by documentation showing enrollment at the out-of-state educational institution. A prospective juror excused by a judge in the exercise of the discretion conferred by subsection (b) of this section or excused pursuant to subsection (b1) of this section may be required by the judge to serve as a juror in a subsequent session of court. If required to serve subsequently, the juror shall be considered on such occasion the same as if he were a member of the panel regularly summoned for jury service at that time. A judge hearing applications for excuses from jury duty shall excuse any person disqualified under § 9-3. The judge shall inform the clerk of superior court of persons excused under this section, and the clerk shall keep a record of excuses separate from the master jury list. The discretionary authority of a presiding judge to excuse a juror at the beginning of or during a session of court is not affected by this section. History (1967, c. 218, s. 1; 1969, c. 205, ss. 4, 5; 1971, c. 377, s. 30; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1207, s. 1; 1981, c. 430, s. 2; 1985, c. 609, s. 2; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, s. 47; 2012-180, s. 6; 2015-210, s. 2.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2015-210, s. 4, provides: "The Administrative Office of the Courts, in consultation with the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court, shall study excusals from jury service. It shall consider all of the current exemptions from jury service and examine whether or not excusals should be granted for prospective jurors who are on work assignment outside the State of North Carolina. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall report its findings and any recommendations to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety and the General Assembly upon the convening of the 2016 Regular Session of the 2015 General Assembly." Session Laws 2015-210, s. 2, which added subsection (b1) and inserted "of this section or excused pursuant to subsection (b1) of this section" in the first sentence of subsection (c), was applicable to requests for excusal from jury service made on or after August 11, 2015. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2012-180, s. 6, effective July 12, 2012, substituted "shall keep a record of excuses separate from the master" for "within 10 days shall so notify the register of deeds, who shall note the excuse on the juror's card and file it separately from the" in subsection (e). Session Laws 2015-210, s. 2, effective August 11, 2015, and applicable to requests for excusal from jury service made on or after that date, added subsection (b1); and inserted "of this section or excused pursuant to subsection (b1) of this section" in the first sentence of subsection (c). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "Filling the Box: Responding to Jury Duty Avoidance," see 23 N.C. Cent. L.J. 1 (1997).