US Lawyer Database

For Lawyer-Seekers

YOU DESERVE THE BEST LAWYER

§ 471. Qualifications

Any citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 18 years and has resided within the Territory for six months or more is competent to serve as a juror unless: (1) He has been convicted in a state, territorial or federal court of record of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more […]

§ 472. Exemptions

The following persons are exempt from jury service: (1) Members in active service of the armed forces of the United States. (2) Members of the fire and police departments of the Territory. (3) Attorneys at law, ministers of the gospel or priests of any religious denomination, and practicing physicians and dentists. (4) Public officers in […]

§ 473. Exclusion or excuse from service

(a) The judge of the district court for good cause may excuse or exclude from jury service any person called as a juror. (b) Any class or group of persons may, for the public interest, be excluded from the jury panel or excused from service as jurors by order of the judge of the district […]

§ 474. Jury commissioners

The judge of the district court shall appoint four jury commissioners for each judicial division of the Territory, who shall be residents of the division of good standing and who, with the clerk of the district court or his deputy, shall constitute the jury commission of the judicial division.

§ 475. Orders for jury panel

Prior to each session of the district court at which a new panel of jurors will be required the court shall issue an order to the jury commission of the proper judicial division directing it to draw such a panel of jurors, specifying in the order the number of jurors to be drawn and, in […]

§ 476. Manner of drawing jurors

The names of jurors shall be publicly drawn by the jury commission from a jury box containing the names of not less than 100 qualified persons at the time of each drawing. The jury box shall be filled and from time to time refilled by the jury commission. The jury commissioners and the clerk, or […]

§ 477. Jurors for Christiansted and Frederiksted

Jurors for the sessions of the district court at Christiansted and Frederiksted shall be residents of the Christiansted and Frederiksted jurisdictions, respectively, of the judicial division of Saint Croix. The jury commission of the judicial division of Saint Croix shall maintain separate jury boxes for the Christiansted and Frederiksted jurisdictions from which the names of […]

§ 478. Summoning jurors

When a panel of jurors has been drawn by the jury commission for service at a session of the district court the clerk shall issue summons directing each person so drawn to attend the court at the time and place designated and shall deliver them to the marshal for service.

§ 479. Length of service

Jurors summoned for service in the district court shall serve for such period of time and at such session or sessions of the court as the court may direct, but no juror shall be required to serve for a longer period than three months unless actually engaged as a trial juror in a particular case.

§ 480. Talesmen from citizens

Whenever the panel of jurors has been exhausted at a session of the district court the court may order the jury commission to draw a supplemental panel of jurors in such number as may be specified in the order or may direct the marshal to summon a sufficient number of talesmen from the citizens resident […]

§ 481. Trial jury

Only one jury panel shall be summoned for the trial of both civil and criminal actions at each session of the district court. Trial juries in civil actions shall be constituted as provided in subtitle 1 of Title 5. Trial juries in criminal actions shall be constituted as provided in subtitle 3 of Title 5.

§ 482. Fees of jury commissioners and jurors

The jury commissioners shall receive the compensation, and the jurors of the district court of the Virgin Islands shall receive the fees and travel and subsistence allowances now or hereafter fixed by sections 1864 and 1871 of Title 28 of the United States Code.

§ 483. Protection of juror’s employment

(a) No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any permanent employee by reason of such employee’s jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such service, in any court of the Territory of the Virgin Islands provided that such employee presents written evidence from the court indicating that such […]