The Jury Summons contains a great deal of information about where, when and how to report for jury service, as well as a section which will assist you if you need to have your service postponed or if you are requesting to be excused. Please locate your juror badge number, group number, date, and location to appear on your summons. Using your juror badge number, located on your summons, we may schedule you and others to appear on Monday, Tuesday or any other day of your appearance week, so please call as instructed each evening after 5:30 p.m. until you are told to appear or are released from service.

If you have lost or misplaced your summons, West Slope at (530) 621-7469, or South Lake Tahoe at (530) 573-3078.

All potential jurors are selected at random from a list that is created using contact information from the Department of Motor Vehicles, list of resident state tax filers and voter registration lists.

Tank tops, shorts and bare feet are not permitted. The temperature of the jury assembly areas and courtrooms can be unpredictable. Jurors are encouraged to dress appropriately and accordingly as an officer of the court.

No. Do NOT bring your children with you when you report for jury duty.

The court does not provide child supervision while you are on jury duty. You will need to make other arrangements for your child’s care while you are at the court for jury duty. Not appearing for jury duty because you cannot find appropriate childcare is NOT an excused absence.

Contact the Jury Coordinator’s office as soon as you know you are going to be late, for the Placerville/Cameron Park Branches call 530-621-7469 and for the South Lake Tahoe Branch call 530-573-3078. If you appear too late, you may be rescheduled to a new date.

If you are called as a prospective juror, your availability is required for the jury selection process for one week between the approximate hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please arrange your schedule accordingly to be available for your assigned week. If selected as a trial juror, you will serve to the end of the jury trial. A recorded or web message is available after - 5:00 p.m. the evening before your scheduled appearance date. This message will give you instructions for your juror group number. You will either hear specific instructions about when your appearance will be required by the court or the time you must call back for further instructions. DO NOT STAY AT HOME IF YOUR GROUP IS TOLD TO CALL BACK. GO TO WORK AND CALL AT THE APPOINTED TIME. We suggest you bring reading materials or small projects to pass the time while waiting assignment to a courtroom.

Employers cannot discriminate against employees serving on jury duty. Employers must allow employees time off to serve on a jury. The California Labor Code, section 230, prohibits any employer from firing or harassing an employee who is summoned to court for jury service as long as reasonable notice is given. The California Education Code, sections 44037 and 87036 protect teachers and students as well. Employers can also be prosecuted criminally and face a misdemeanor charge, if found guilty.

You will be required to go through a security check point and metal detector. Any item that may be considered to cause personal harm will be confiscated by Security Personnel and will not be returned.

You will be paid fifteen dollars ($15.00) for the second and subsequent days of service, whether you are serving on a case or available to be assigned to a case. No juror will be paid a per diem for their first day of service, including sworn jurors who sit on a one-day trial. Mileage will be paid for all appearances at the rate of $0.34 per mile to and from Court after the first day of service, unless waived. If you are a Government Employee (State, Federal, County, City or District), and you receive your regular wages while performing jury service, you will not receive any jury pay for the time you are serving pursuant to CCP 215, but you will receive mileage reimbursement beginning on the second day of service.

Work certificates are provided upon completion of your service.

All persons are eligible and qualified to be prospective trial jurors, except the following:

• Persons who are not citizens of the United States
• Persons less than 18 years of age.
• Persons not living in the State of California.
• Persons who are not residents of El Dorado County.
• Persons convicted of malfeasance in office or a felony, and whose civil rights have not been restored.
• Persons who do not possess sufficient knowledge of the English language.
• Persons serving as grand or trial jurors in any court of this state.
• Persons who are the subject of conservatorship.

No person shall be deemed incompetent solely because of the loss of sight, hearing, or other disability. No person shall be excluded from eligibility for jury service in the State of California, for any reason other than those reasons provided by this section.

Qualifications for jury service are established by California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 203(a), and are outlined below, and are as follows: You Must:

• Be a citizen of the United States
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be a resident of El Dorado County
• Have sufficient understanding of the English language

You Must NOT:

• Be currently serving as a Grand Juror trial juror
• Be under Court appointed conservatorship
• Be incarcerated in any prison or jail
• Be convicted of a felony and required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Penal Code section 290
• Be convicted of a felony and are currently on parole, post release community supervision, felony probation, or mandated supervision for the conviction o a felony
• Have been convicted of a felony or malfeasance in the office and not had your civil rights restored
• Be a Peace Officer pursuant to 830.1 or 830.2(a) of the Penal Code

If you believe you do not meet the qualification to serve, you must submit a request to be disqualified no later than NOON on Wednesday the week PRIOR to your appearance. Otherwise, you are expected to be available to appear as scheduled. Please use the Automated Jury System, Jury Service Request To Be Disqualified, Postponed, or Excused (Local Form M-61), or the Summons for Jury Service to submit your request.

California Rule of Court, rule 2.1008, specifies the grounds on which the Jury Coordinator’s Office is allowed to excuse jurors from jury service. It states, “Jury service, unless excused by law, is a responsibility of citizenship. The Court and its staff shall employ all necessary and appropriate means to ensure that citizens fulfill this important and civic duty.” Postponing jury service is preferred to excusing a prospective juror. Inconvenience to a prospective juror or employer is not an adequate reason to be excused from jury duty. Requests to be excused must be made in writing and supported with facts and/or appropriate documentation as outline below:

• The prospective juror has no reasonably available means of public or private transportation.
• The prospective juror has a personal obligation to provide actual and necessary care to another. Substitute care is not available or practical without imposing undue economic hardship on the prospective juror or person being cared for.
• The prospective juror has a serious physical or mental condition and jury service would expose him/her to undue risk or physical or mental harm. NOTE: If the juror is under 70 years old, he/she must obtain a statement from a doctor that clearly states that the juror cannot serve jury duty for medical reasons. Doctor’s note must indicate the expected length of infirmity, or if permanent, must state so.
• The prospective juror has served on a grand or trial jury within the preceding 12 months.
• The prospective juror is serving on active military duty
• The prospective juror would suffer an extreme financial burden. In determining whether to excuse the prospective juror consideration will be given to the following:
  • The sources of the prospective juror’s household income;
  • The availability and extent of income reimbursement,
  • The expected length of service, and
  • Whether service can reasonably be expected to compromise that person’s ability to support himself or herself or his or her dependents, or so disrupt the economic stability of any individual as to be against the interests of justice.

If you believe you have an undue hardship and need to be excused from jury service, you must submit a request to be excused no later than NOON on Wednesday the week PRIOR to your appearance. Otherwise, you are expected to be available to appear as scheduled. Please use the Automated Jury System, Jury Service Request To Be Disqualified, Postponed, or Excused (Local Form M-61), or the Summons for Jury Service to submit your request.

As a trial juror, you will become an officer of the Court. You will be performing an important and vital role in the efficient and fair administration of justice. That may mean rearranging schedules, cancelling appointments, and missing work. The Jury Commissioner's Office will be as flexible as possible when re-scheduling jurors for jury service.

If your summoned date is not convenient, you may request ONE (1) postponement for a period of up to 90 days. (Students and teachers may be rescheduled to the next school break. Breastfeeding mothers may be postponed for a period of up to one (1) year.)

If you cannot serve on your summoned date, you must submit a request for your jury service to be postponed no later than NOON on Wednesday the week PRIOR to your appearance. Otherwise, you are expected to be available to appear as scheduled. Please use the Automated Jury System, Jury Service Request To Be Disqualified, Postponed, or Excused (Local Form M-61), or the Summons for Jury Service to submit your request.

If you will need special arrangements when you report (e.g., assistive listening device, accessibility, sign language interpreter, etc.), please call 530-621-7469 for the Placerville/Cameron Park Branches or 530-573-3078 for the South Lake Tahoe Branch at least five days prior to your service date. If you are requesting a sign language interpreter, it is possible that your service date will be rescheduled to the next available date for an interpreter. You will be notified of any changes.

Please be advised that ALL citizens are required by law to serve as jurors periodically unless there is legal cause for excuse or disqualification. The Court is obligated by law to enforce this obligation.

If you have received a lavender postcard in the mail you are required to reschedule a new service date to satisfy this obligation. Please reschedule a new appearance date as soon as possible or further action will be taken. You may also contact the Jury Coordinator at the West Slope at (530) 621-7469, or South Lake Tahoe at (530) 573-3078 to arrange for a new service date.

If you have received an Order to Show Cause in the mail, you have failed to appear for jury service and also failed to respond to our postcard. This document begins court proceedings against you for failing to participate in serving. Your appearance is mandatory at the hearing as stated in this document. You may not reschedule your service at this point, you must appear before the Judge at this hearing. The Court and its staff shall employ all necessary and appropriate means to ensure that all eligible citizens fulfill this important civic duty.

If you have been served personally an Order to Show Cause for Contempt by the Sheriff, you have failed to respond to all Court communication up to this point. If you do not appear as required it could result in a warrant being issued for your arrest. There is also a potential fine of $2000.00 if you fail to appear at this hearing.

The El Dorado Superior Court operates on a One Day/One Trial system. Jurors are instructed to call a recorded telephone message, or use the Automated Jury Program the court day before the date you are scheduled to appear, after 5:00p.m., for reporting instructions.

Once instructed to report to a courthouse, a juror may or may not be selected to serve as a juror in a trial court. The Jury Coordinator is required to have a sufficient number of jurors for all anticipated trials. The jury staff tries to carefully estimate the number of jurors needed but there are many variables outside their control, for example, a case may settle at the last moment.

If a prospective juror is selected to serve on a trial as a sworn juror, the term of service will be the length of that trial. Trials vary in length, but generally last one to three days.

A juror status of summoned means the juror has been mailed a Summons for Jury Service is required to appear on the date and time listed on their summons. 

A juror status of ended  means service has been complete and the juror does not need to appear on the date and time listed on their Summons for Jury Service. 

A juror status of ready means the juror is currently eligible and available to be summonsed by the court.