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Michigan Jury Selection

Jury selection is the procedure whereby persons from the community are called to court, questioned by the litigants as to their qualifications to serve as a juror and then either selected to or rejected to serve as a juror.  The jury board of Michigan selects jurors from a list that combines the driver’s license list and personal identification list.

To qualify as a juror a person shall:

  • Be a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, and a resident in the county for which the person is selected;
  • Be able to communicate in the English language;
  • Be physically and mentally able to carry out the functions of a juror;
  • Not have served as a petit or grand juror in a court of record during the preceding 12 months;
  • Not have been convicted of a felony.

A person more than 70 years of age may claim exemption from jury service and shall be exempt upon making the request.

Each circuit court has developed a plan for the implementation of a system of jury selection in their respective courts. Each plan specifies methods for utilizing eligible jurors to lessen the inconvenience to citizens of serving as a juror.

The board shall supply a juror qualifications questionnaire to persons on the jury list. This questionnaire shall contain blanks for the information the board desires, concerning qualifications for, and exemptions from, jury service. Persons on the jury list are required to return the questionnaire fully answered to the jury board within 10 days after it is received.  The answers to the qualifications questionnaire shall not be disclosed except that the chief circuit judge may order access to the questionnaires and the answers.

From time to time, the chief judge of each court of record in the county shall order the board to select jurors for jury service.  Each such order shall contain information regarding time limits within which the selection shall be completed, the number of jurors to be selected for a panel and the court or courts in which each panel shall serve.


Inside Michigan Jury Selection