§ 1866. — Selection and summoning of jury panels.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 28USC1866]
TITLE 28--JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
PART V--PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 121--JURIES; TRIAL BY JURY
Sec. 1866. Selection and summoning of jury panels
(a) The jury commission, or in the absence thereof the clerk, shall
maintain a qualified jury wheel and shall place in such wheel names of
all persons drawn from the master jury wheel who are determined to be
qualified as jurors and not exempt or excused pursuant to the district
court plan. From time to time, the jury commission or the clerk shall
publicly draw at random from the qualified jury wheel such number of
names of persons as may be required for assignment to grand and petit
jury panels. The jury commission or the clerk shall prepare a separate
list of names of persons assigned to each grand and petit jury panel.
(b) When the court orders a grand or petit jury to be drawn, the
clerk or jury commission or their duly designated deputies shall issue
summonses for the required number of jurors.
Each person drawn for jury service may be served personally, or by
registered, certified, or first-class mail addressed to such person at
his usual residence or business address.
If such service is made personally, the summons shall be delivered
by the clerk or the jury commission or their duly designated deputies to
the marshal who shall make such service.
If such service is made by mail, the summons may be served by the
marshal or by the clerk, the jury commission or their duly designated
deputies, who shall make affidavit of service and shall attach thereto
any receipt from the addressee for a registered or certified summons.
(c) Except as provided in section 1865 of this title or in any jury
selection plan provision adopted pursuant to paragraph (5) or (6) of
section 1863(b) of this title, no person or class of persons shall be
disqualified, excluded, excused, or exempt from service as jurors:
Provided, That any person summoned for jury service may be (1) excused
by the court, or by the clerk under supervision of the court if the
court's jury selection plan so authorizes, upon a showing of undue
hardship or extreme inconvenience, for such period as the court deems
necessary, at the conclusion of which such person either shall be
summoned again for jury service under subsections (b) and (c) of this
section or, if the court's jury selection plan so provides, the name of
such person shall be reinserted into the qualified jury wheel for
selection pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) excluded by
the court on the ground that such person may be unable to render
impartial jury service or that his service as a juror would be likely to
disrupt the proceedings, or (3) excluded upon peremptory challenge as
provided by law, or (4) excluded pursuant to the procedure specified by
law upon a challenge by any party for good cause shown, or (5) excluded
upon determination by the court that his service as a juror would be
likely to threaten the secrecy of the proceedings, or otherwise
adversely affect the integrity of jury deliberations. No person shall be
excluded under clause (5) of this subsection unless the judge, in open
court, determines that such is warranted and that exclusion of the
person will not be inconsistent with sections 1861 and 1862 of this
title. The number of persons excluded under clause (5) of this
subsection shall not exceed one per centum of the number of persons who
return executed jury qualification forms during the period, specified in
the plan, between two consecutive fillings of the master jury wheel. The
names of persons excluded under clause (5) of this subsection, together
with detailed explanations for the exclusions, shall be forwarded
immediately to the judicial council of the circuit, which shall have the
power to make any appropriate order, prospective or retroactive, to
redress any misapplication of clause (5) of this subsection, but
otherwise exclusions effectuated under such clause shall not be subject
to challenge under the provisions of this title. Any person excluded
from a particular jury under clause (2), (3), or (4) of this subsection
shall be eligible to sit on another jury if the basis for his initial
exclusion would not be relevant to his ability to serve on such other
jury.
(d) Whenever a person is disqualified, excused, exempt, or excluded
from jury service, the jury commission or clerk shall note in the space
provided on his juror qualification form or on the juror's card drawn
from the qualified jury wheel the specific reason therefor.
(e) In any two-year period, no person shall be required to (1) serve
or attend court for prospective service as a petit juror for a total of
more than thirty days, except when necessary to complete service in a
particular case, or (2) serve on more than one grand jury, or (3) serve
as both a grand and petit juror.
(f) When there is an unanticipated shortage of available petit
jurors drawn from the qualified jury wheel, the court may require the
marshal to summon a sufficient number of petit jurors selected at random
from the voter registration lists, lists of actual voters, or other
lists specified in the plan, in a manner ordered by the court consistent
with sections 1861 and 1862 of this title.
(g) Any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as
directed shall be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and
show cause for his failure to comply with the summons. Any person who
fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined
not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than three days, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 952; May 24, 1949, ch. 179, Sec. 96,
63 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 90-274, Sec. 101, Mar. 27, 1968, 82 Stat. 58; Pub.
L. 91-543, Dec. 11, 1970, 84 Stat. 1408; Pub. L. 95-572, Sec. 2(b), Nov.
2, 1978, 92 Stat. 2453; Pub. L. 97-463, Sec. 2, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat.
2531; Pub. L. 100-702, title VIII, Sec. 801, Nov. 19, 1988, 102 Stat.
4657.)
Historical and Revision Notes
1948 Act
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Secs. 417, 418 (Mar. 3, 1911,
ch. 231, Secs. 280, 281, 36 Stat. 1165).
Section consolidates parts of sections 417, 418 of title 28, U.S.C.,
1940 ed., with necessary changes in phraseology.
The requirement of section 418 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., for
the summoning of a special jury in accordance with the law of the state
was omitted as unnecessary and incongruous in view of other sections of
this chapter making adequate provision for summoning jurors.
1949 Act
This section amends section 1866 of title 28, U.S.C., by restoring
provision of original law that special juries be impaneled in accordance
with laws of the respective States.
Amendments
1988--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 100-702 amended cl. (1) generally.
Prior to amendment, cl. (1) read as follows: ``excused by the court,
upon a showing of undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, for such
period as the court deems necessary, at the conclusion of which such
person shall be summoned again for jury service under subsections (b)
and (c) of this section, or''.
1983--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97-463, Sec. 2, inserted provision in
second par. authorizing service by first-class mail of persons drawn for
jury service, substituted in fourth par. ``If such service is made by
mail, the summons may be served by the marshal or by the clerk, the jury
commission or their duly designated deputies, who shall make affidavit
of service and shall attach thereto any receipt from the addressee for a
registered or certified summons'' for ``If such service is made by
registered or certified mail, the summons may be served by the clerk or
jury commission or their duly designated deputies who shall make
affidavit of service and shall file with such affidavit the addressee's
receipt for the registered or certified summons'' and struck out
provision requiring the marshal, if service was made by the marshal, to
attach to his return the addressee's receipt for the registered or
certified mail.
1978--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95-572 struck out introductory text
reference to par. (7) of section 1863(b) of this title.
1970--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91-543 inserted provisions authorizing
duly designated deputies of the clerk or the jury commission to issue
summonses, and deliver them to the marshal for service when personal
service is to be made, and provisions authorizing, if service is made by
registered or certified mail, the clerk or the jury commission or their
duly designated deputies to make service of the summons.
1968--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90-274 substituted provisions authorizing
the commission or clerk to maintain a jury wheel of qualified jurors and
to draw particular panels therefrom for provisions authorizing the
marshal to summon talesmen from the bystanders when there is an
insufficient number of petit jurors.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 90-274 substituted provisions directing the
clerk or jury commission to deliver summonses to the marshal for service
when the court orders a grand or petit jury to be drawn and setting out
the details of service for provisions requiring that, when a special
jury was ordered by a district court, it had to be returned by the
marshal in the same manner and form as was required in such case by the
law of the State in which the district court sat.
Subsecs. (c) to (g). Pub. L. 90-274 added subsecs. (c) to (g).
1949--Act May 24, 1949, divided section into subsections and
restored provisions that special juries be impaneled in accordance with
State law.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95-572 applicable with respect to any grand or
petit juror summoned for service or actually serving on or after Nov. 2,
1978, see section 7(a) of Pub. L. 95-572, set out as an Effective Date
note under section 1363 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90-274 effective 270 days after Mar. 27, 1968,
except as to cases in which an indictment has been returned or a petit
jury empaneled prior to such effective date, see section 104 of Pub. L.
90-274, set out as a note under section 1861 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 1869 of this title.
