Florida Statutes 40.02 – Selection of jury lists
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 40.02
- Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
- Juror: A person who is on the jury.
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(1) The chief judge or the chief judge’s designee shall direct the clerk of the court to select, by lot and at random, a sufficient number of names, with their addresses, from the initial juror candidate list of persons who are qualified to serve as jurors under s. 40.01 and to generate a final juror candidate list of not fewer than 250 persons to serve as jurors as provided for in s. 40.221. The final juror candidate list must be signed and verified by the clerk of the court as having been selected as aforesaid. The final juror candidate list may be created, updated, or supplemented as often as necessary to prevent the selection list from becoming exhausted, but in no case less than annually during the first week of January of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable. A circuit judge in a county to which he or she has been assigned may also request that the final juror candidate list be updated or supplemented, or that a new list be created as necessary.
(2) When the final juror candidate list is prepared pursuant to the request of a chief judge or the chief judge’s designee, the previously prepared final juror candidate lists shall be withdrawn from further use. If, notwithstanding this provision, some names are not withdrawn, such error or irregularity does not invalidate any subsequent proceeding or jury. The fact that any person so selected had been on a former jury list or had served as a juror in any court at any time shall not be grounds for challenge of such person as a juror. If any person so selected shall be ascertained to be disqualified or incompetent to serve as a juror, such disqualification shall not affect the legality of such list or be cause of challenge to the array of any jury chosen from such list, but any person ascertained to be disqualified to serve as a juror shall be subject to challenge for cause, as defined by law. The set of juror candidate lists, although they may be defective or irregular in form or other formal requirement, or in the number or qualification of the persons so named, shall be the lists from which the names of persons for jury service are to be drawn as prescribed by law.
(3) The clerk of the court shall be responsible for preserving the security of the source and juror candidate lists.
(4) The clerk of the court shall perform the duties set forth in this section and in ss. 40.221, 40.23, and 40.231 in counties having an approved, computerized jury selection system, the provisions of any special law or general law of local application to the contrary notwithstanding. However, the chief judge may designate the court administrator to perform these duties if the county provides funding to the court administrator to provide the personnel and other costs associated with jury services.