Section 27A. After a summons has been received by a juror, no person shall, except as otherwise provided by law, question any juror so summoned for the purpose of obtaining information as to the juror’s background in connection with the juror’s jury duty.
Section 28. The office of jury commissioner may cancel grand or trial juror service whenever it appears that the number of jurors scheduled to appear is in excess of the number reasonably required to conduct the business of the court without delay. The office of jury commissioner shall employ whatever means of notice, including telephone […]
Section 29. The office of jury commissioner may modify the date, location, or other condition of grand or trial juror service in order to meet the urgent needs of the court. The office of jury commissioner shall employ whatever means of notice, including telephone notice, that is appropriate under the circumstances.
Section 3. Juror service in the participating counties shall be a duty which every person who qualifies under this chapter shall perform when selected. All persons selected for juror service on grand and trial juries shall be selected at random from the population of the judicial district in which they reside. All persons shall have […]
Section 30. The office of jury commissioner or the court may impose a standby status condition on any trial or grand juror before or during his term of service. A juror on whom such condition has been imposed shall be referred to as a standby juror. The standby juror shall be prepared to serve on […]
Section 30A. If, by challenge or otherwise, a sufficient number of jurors duly drawn and summoned cannot be obtained for the trial of a case, the court shall cause jurors to be returned from the bystanders or from the county at large, to complete the panel, if there are on the jury not fewer than […]
Section 31. On the first day of his term of grand or trial juror service, each juror shall bring to court and present to the officer in charge of jurors his summons, his confidential juror questionnaire, duly completed and signed, and any subsequent notices of postponement or location transfer received by him. Notice of these […]
Section 32. Any juror or other person who wilfully misrepresents a material fact in the confidential questionnaire for the purpose of either avoiding or securing service as a grand or trial juror shall be guilty of a crime, and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars.
Section 33. The court, the office of jury commissioner, and the clerk of court or assistant clerk shall have authority to inquire into the criminal history records of grand and trial jurors for the limited purpose of corroborating and determining their qualifications for juror service. Notwithstanding any other special or General Law to the contrary, […]
Section 34. A trial juror shall have the right to one postponement of his term of juror service for not more than one year. The trial juror shall exercise this right by responding to the juror summons and indicating an election to postpone. The month, day and year to which such service is to be […]
Section 35. Grand and trial jurors shall be summoned at random from the entire judicial district to perform juror service at any particular location within the judicial district, unless the supreme judicial court, by rule of court, orders otherwise. The office of jury commissioner and the court shall have discretionary authority to permit a juror […]
Section 36. Not later than two weeks after the receipt of a response to a juror summons containing an election to postpone or a request to transfer juror service to a different location, the office of jury commissioner shall provide notice to the juror. This notice shall state the date of postponement, if any, effectuated […]
Section 37. The legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the commonwealth and of the United States shall not be impeded by the provisions of this chapter from freely exercising their independent powers and duties. Any of the following persons who has been summoned as a juror or who is performing juror service and who certifies […]
Section 38. A grand or trial juror may be permitted by the court to be available for juror service or continued juror service upon telephone notice. A juror who agrees to be available on telephone notice shall provide to the court a telephone number and a named individual by which he may be notified with […]
Section 39. The court or the office of jury commissioner shall have authority to defer or advance any term of grand or trial juror service upon a finding of hardship, inconvenience, or public necessity provided the juror recognizes his firm obligation to perform juror service on the new date. The court shall have authority to […]
Section 4. Any citizen of the United States who is a resident of the judicial district or who lives within the judicial district more than fifty per cent of the time, whether or not he is registered to vote in any state or federal election, shall be qualified to serve as a grand or trial […]
Section 40. In the event a trial is expected by the court to last more than three trial days, the trial judge shall announce this fact to jurors before the jury is impanelled. The trial judge may excuse a juror from performing his juror service on such an extended trial upon a finding of hardship, […]
Section 41. The length of the term of service for trial jurors shall be one day unless a juror is assigned to or impanelled on an incompleted trial when the term ends or unless the court orders otherwise. Nothing in this section shall prevent a trial juror from serving or participating on more than one […]
Section 42. The court shall take whatever actions are appropriate to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Upon a finding by the court that a juror will not appear to perform or complete juror service or in response to the court’s order, the court may issue a warrant for the arrest of the juror or […]
Section 43. The office of jury commissioner may send a delinquency notice by certified or first-class mail or by delivery by a sheriff or constable to any grand or trial juror who has failed to appear for juror service based upon the records in the office of jury commissioner; provided, however, that the purpose of […]
