Jury Duty: City versus the County

I had jury duty for the City of Dallas yesterday. Today I had jury duty for the county. Because I am just lucky that way.

There are many differences between city and county jury duty. But for the internet’s sake, I will just hit the highlights.

• Start time for the city is 9 AM. Start time for the county is 8:30 AM. Neither is close to a coffee shop, but the Municipal Building does have a 7-11 across the street.



• You have to stand to be sworn in at the city. You can sit over at the county.



• The county has a large auditorium for potential jurors with comfy seats. The city has a room with several rows of plastic chairs. The first time I had jury duty for the city in 2005 I had to sit on the floor because every seat in the room was already taken.



• The county pays you $6 for your time (assuming, of course, you don't waive or donate your fee). The city gives you a stamped piece of paper informing you that “no fee was [or will be] paid”.



• The county validates discounts your parking. The city does nothing. So, basically, it cost me $12 in parking fees to perform my civic duty for the city on Monday and $3 today.



• The county gives you a juror badge, punch out DART pass and directions to the Central Jury Room. The city just directs you - without going into ANY specifics whatsoever - to the second floor of the Municipal Building downtown. Please note that the second floor is large, and to get to the juror room you have to go up a flight of stairs, down another, walk down a hallway, turn right and go to the forth door on your left. And, no. There are no signs.



• The county has a video explaining the basics of jury duty. They don't tell you they are going to show you a film, much less that a film exists and they consider it to be mandatory viewing. They just unceremoniously turn off the lights around 9:15 AM and start rolling. For about 30 seconds after the lights have gone out (but before the film starts), the jury pool is convinced that there has been some sort of power outage.



• Said jury 101 video at the county was hosted by Clarice Tinsley. The city on Monday had a TV in the jury room that was tuned to channel 4. All this could lead someone to believe that jury duty in Dallas is somehow sponsored by the Fox network.



• The county mandates that you fill out a survey before reporting for duty. REQUIRED questions include race, religion, marital status and spouse’s name and occupation. I am not sure why answering these questions was mandatory, since it has absolutely no bearing on my ability to be a juror. The city, on the other hand, doesn't care if it has your address correct or not.



• Don't show for the city, and they issue you another summons. Don't show for the county, and they issue you a citation.

Unlike in 2007, I was not chosen to sit on an actual jury this time around. But it did give me the opportunity to read two very good books over the course of my combined eight hours of service. Which, if you are me, is kind of fantastic. Almost like vacation. If going on holiday included a random gathering of my fellow residents - most with hacking coughs or significant congestion - on two consecutive early mornings with no coffee, a bunch of metal detectors and very expensive parking.

Yep. Fan-tastic.