Juror Orientation
Welcome to Jury Duty for the Lane County Circuit Court. Your service as a juror is one of the most important things you will do in participating in our system of government and ensuring justice in our community. We hope to make your experience as rewarding as possible and we thank you for your willingness to take the time to serve your community. The right to a jury trial in certain cases is guaranteed in our constitution. A jury must represent the full community. It is important that a fair cross-section of the community be represented on the jury to prevent discrimination, including discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or economic status.
While you are serving your jury term, jurors may park for free at the Parcade parking structure West of the courthouse or the Overpark parking structure South of the courthouse. You can find them on the Free Jury Duty Parking Map.
Orientation will be held the morning of your first day of service.
Your jury service will be for one day. If you are selected for a trial, your service will end at the conclusion of the trial.
Please view the Jury Orientation Videos listed in the "Juror Videos" section of this page.
We thank those who have spent the time -- and completed the hard work -- of serving on a jury.
FAQs
Refer to The First page or your summons for Juror parking information. Parking is located at the PARCADE and OVERPARK structures operated by the City of Eugene.
The PARCADE is located at 35 W. 8th Avenue. (Entrance between Willamette and Olive Street on 7th and 8th Street)
The OVERPARK is located at 1000 Oak Street (Entrance at 10th and Oak).
You will receive a validation ticket from the jury clerk when you check in. If you park at any other location your parking costs will not be reimbursed.
If you need oversized parking or Disabled parking accommodations, please contact the Jury Coordinator via email at lane.jury@ojd.state.or.us ahead of time for further information.
If you are unable to serve on the date you have been summoned to appear, Refer to #8 on your jury summons you may request to defer your service date to another time. You must choose a date not more than one year from the date of your original Jury Summons. To request a deferral, you must complete the online juror response at courts.oregon.gov/LaneResponse, email lane.jury@ojd.state.or.us or mail the attached Request for Deferment or Excuse from Jury Duty form. The completed form must be received no later than two weeks prior to your date of service.
In order to be excused from jury service, you must meet either the mandatory standards or the discretionary standards to be excused. Refer to #6 and #7 on your Jury Summons
If you are age 70 or older on the date of jury service, or if you are a woman breast-feeding a child, and you request to be excused, the court must excuse you from service. This is the mandatory standard to be excused. Check the appropriate box in Section 3 of the juror response form, sign, and return the form to the Jury Coordinator.
You may be excused from jury service if: (a) jury service causes you, your family or your employer undue hardship or extreme inconvenience; or, (b) you are the sole care giver for a child or other dependent and you personally attend to the dependent during the court's normal hours and you are unable to afford daycare or make other arrangements for the care of the dependent. You must show good cause to the court why you should be excused under these standards. To request excusal, you must complete the online juror response at courts.oregon.gov/LaneResponse, email lane.jury@ojd.state.or.us or mail the attached Request for Deferment or Excuse from Jury Duty form. The completed form must be received no later than two weeks prior to your date of service. The court may deny a request for excuse under (a) or (b) above and require you to serve. You will receive a written response to your request to be excused from service.
Refer to the first page of your Jury Summons If your juror number is selected for service, you must as directed at the time stated on the recording. Please report to the Jury Assembly Room on the basement level of the Lane County Courthouse, 125 East 8th, Eugene, OR 97401.
An LTD bus pass is included on the front page of your jury summons. Show the summons to the driver for a free ride on your service date.
The grand jury is a body of persons sworn to inquire into alleged criminal acts. Every four weeks a small number of jurors may be chosen as grand jurors. The term of service for grand jurors is four weeks. The District Attorney's Office coordinates the grand jury.
An airport-type security station is located at the entrance to the courthouse. It is a Class C felony for any person to intentionally possess a weapon in a court facility (ORS 166.370). Uniform Trial Court Rule 6.180 further prohibits the possession of a knife, device or harmful substance capable of inflicting death or physical injury. No lockers or other areas are available to secure personal items not permitted in the courthouse.
Prohibited Acts by Employers: Oregon law provides that an employer shall not discharge or threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce an employee by reason of the employee’s service as a juror. The law also provides protections related to leave and continuing insurance coverage.
Juror Employment Protections
Yes. Each eligible person has an obligation to serve as a juror. The right to a jury trial has meaning only if you and others serve as jurors. If you do not respond to the summons, and you don't appear for jury service, the court may order you to appear and explain why you should not be held in contempt. If the court orders you to appear, you risk arrest if you do not appear. If you are charged with contempt, you risk criminal sanctions. Please support the right to a trial by jury and respond to your summons.
Anyone with a disability who needs accommodation to participate in jury service may advise the court of the disability and type of accommodation by email, telephone, fax, or letter one week before service.
Please refer to our Accessibility webpage for further information.
The length of jury service is for the duration of one trial. Call the jury clerk's recorded message (541-682-4299) the night before your service to see if your juror number has been selected for service. If your number is selected, you must come in for jury service the next day. If your number is not selected, you are excused from jury service for this summons.
Staff from Lane County Circuit Court will not contact you by telephone regarding jury duty. In addition we never ask for personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth or credit card number. If you receive a phone call from a person identifying themselves as a court employee regarding jury duty, do not provide any personal or confidential information to these individuals. Most contact between a court and a prospective juror will be through the U.S. mail. Courts will also not serve a warrant or notify you of a warrant by email, phone or fax.
In order to prioritize the health and safety of
everyone, we kindly request that you do not report for jury duty if you are
experiencing symptoms that may be viral or contagious. Please write a letter to
the court explaining why you failed to appear for jury duty and request to be
rescheduled to another date.
Security
Security at the Courthouse is provided by Lane County Sheriff’s Office. Security equipment in use at the Courthouse includes magnetometers (walk-through metal detectors), x-ray scanners, and hand held metal detectors. If you have a pacemaker, tell the security officer about it before you enter the metal detector. The security screening process can create long lines of people waiting to enter the courthouse during peak hours.
The main objective of Courthouse security is to maintain a safe and secure environment for everyone in the building. Everyone’s cooperation is needed in order to achieve this very important goal. Weapons of any kind are strictly prohibited and may be confiscated. Among items prohibited from court facilities are guns, knives, ammunition, pepper spray, mace, razor blades, illegal drugs and any other type of dangerous or hazardous material or property. A variety of items may be prohibited because they are hazardous or could be used as potential weapons. These include any object that is sharp, pointed or with a cutting blade regardless of length. If you are unsure if an item is allowed or not, the safest option is to not bring it into the courthouse.
Courthouse security will not hold unauthorized items for return later. Any prohibited item that is brought to the courthouse will be taken from you and permanently destroyed.