Western District of Texas

INFORMATION ABOUT FEDERAL JURY SERVICE

Welcome to jury duty in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland-Odessa Division. The court hopes that you will enjoy your term of service as a juror in our Court. Some items addressed in the following paragraphs are: term of service, jury payment, attendance fees, parking, dress code and other items of importance. Please be sure to read the notice regarding security measures.

PLEASE HAVE A PICTURE IDENTIFICATION CARD AVAILABLE TO PRESENT WHEN ENTERING THE COURTHOUSE BUILDING.

TERM OF SERVICE IN FEDERAL COURT: Federal petit jurors will usually be summoned once per month for jury selection, and serve a term of three (3) months. This term of service may also be extended, however, as this is at the sole discretion of the Judge presiding. This does not happen often, but one should be aware of the possibility of extended service. A petit jury meets when the Court's docket requires jurors for a jury trial, either in a civil or criminal proceedings. Petit juries can be called to convene any time during a give month. Notice is usually sent five (5) to ten (10) days prior to the appearance date.

JURY PAYMENT AND ATTENDANCE FEES: Persons chosen to serve on a federal jury are paid by United States Treasury Check. These checks are issued through the San Antonio office and mailed to the individual juror's address; therefore it is important that each juror keep the Midland-Odessa office informed of any changes in their address.

A person serving on a federal jury is paid an attendance fee of $40.00 per day of attendance (with the exception of federal government employees). This is regardless of whether the juror is chosen for a trial or not. A prescribed rate per mile is paid for the distance traveled to and from a juror's residence by the shortest practical route in going to and returning from the place of service (round trip). Both the attendance and mileage fees will be paid on the same check.

PARKING: Limited parking is available for jurors attending the Court. This parking is located across the street from the Federal Building on the north side of Wall Street. PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE PARKING LOT LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE POST OFFICE. Persons parking in the Post Office lot are limited to thirty (30) minutes and are subject to having their cars towed away.

DRESS CODE: Male jurors are required to wear a coat and tie during all periods of attendance in the courtroom. Female jurors are required to wear pants-suits or dresses for jury duty.

Attendance in Federal Court is required and failure to appear when summoned could result in a fine, jail term or both.

Should there be a situation where a juror needs to be excused from service, the request must be in writing and sent to the following address as soon as possible after receipt of the summons to appear:

Clerk, United States District Court
ATTN: Jury Clerk
200 E. Wall, Room 107
Midland, Texas 79701-5217

Jurors are not automatically excused when you send a request to be excused. The ONLY person authorized to excuse a juror is the presiding Judge and prior to any juror being excused he must know the specific reason(s) why the juror is requesting the excuse. All excuses for medical reasons must be accompanied by a written narrative from the attending physician on his or her letterhead. We must also have your questionnaire before any excuse can be considered.

Remember: If you call the Code-A-Phone, and the recording does not include your juror number to appear, disregard the summons. You will receive a subsequent juror summons when your juror number is required to appear. Please be aware that we are not permitted to accept collect calls from jurors, and please DO NOT CALL THE CODE-A-PHONE DURING BUSINESS HOURS.

SECURITY MEASURES: It will be necessary for you to pass through a metal detector as you enter the court facility. Your purses and bag will be x-rayed at the same time. To expedite your entrance, it is recommended that you wear as little jewelry as possible and leave any excess metal at home. The following list includes some items that are not allowed into the courthouse:

• Cameras
• Cellular Telephones
• Pagers/Beepers
• Mace/Stun Guns
• Tape Recorders
• Aerosol Cans (e.g. Hair Spray)
• Knives (including pocket knives and metal nail files)
• All Firearms or dangerous weapons
• At no time is SMOKING allowed in the Federal Building

We hope you will find your term of jury service an interesting and satisfying experience. When you report for jury duty, you will receive additional instructions about your duties and obligations as a juror.

WILLIAM G. PUTNICKI
Clerk of Court