Home < Jury Service < Petit Jury - Reporting For Jury Duty

As a petit juror (trial juror) you will be on call to serve for a 2-month period beginning on the date that appears on your summons. Most jurors in the District of New Hampshire will serve an average of five 5 days within their term. Four jury selections will be held during this period for cases beginning that day or as the trial judge will designate.

All jurors will be instructed to call the toll free jury line at 1-800-776-0320 (option 1) after 1:30 p.m. on EVERY call-in date provided in the jury instructions. If a juror has a rotary phone, s/he should immediately call the jury staff line and arrange special phone-in procedures. Each juror call-in message is prerecorded and remains on the call-in lines throughout the evening. Over 200 jurors will be calling in. In fairness to the efforts of all jurors, unless it is an emergency, you should not call the jury staff to obtain your final reporting instructions as you will be referred back to the call-in line. Whenever possible, please stagger your call-in times to avoid crowding the lines. When all the lines are occupied, you will either get a busy signal or the phone will keep ringing while the automatic system hunts for an open line. While it may be cumbersome, you must keep trying until you get through for your instructions. We appreciate your patience.

Each juror has been provided with a unique 6-digit juror number on the right-hand side of the summons directly below the juror's name. Jurors should not discard the summons until their service is complete as they will need it to refer to for their jury number on call-in dates and will also need the bar code on the summons for check-in procedures on jury days. All jury instructions will given to jurors using this number only.

If a juror's number is announced during any call-in instructions, the juror MUST report at the time announced. LATE ARRIVALS ARE SUBJECT TO RESCHEDULING WITHOUT PAY. If a juror's number is not called, the juror may continue normal personal and business routines for the following 2-week period until the next call-in date.

A typical jury day begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m., but the jury schedule will depend on the court's schedule. On the first day you report you are provided with a one-time orientation so reporting time is about an hour earlier. There are several breaks throughout the court day. Jurors are permitted to leave the courthouse during their lunch break.

Although we attempt to make jury service as efficient and comfortable as possible, there will be times spent waiting in the Jury Assembly Room. A television will be available. Hot and cold beverages are provided during your time at the courthouse. Jurors should feel free to bring periodicals or other reading materials to occupy your down time.

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