Jury Duty in Superior Court
Special Message if you have received a PINK SUMMONS in the mail:
You cannot complete your questionnaire online, you MUST mail it in and ANY request for postponement or excusal must be in writing.
Welcome to Jury Duty in Snohomish County Superior Court - without citizen participation our system of democracy would simply not work. Superior Court conducts criminal felony and civil jury trials. There are also civil non-jury trials and bench trials (no jury present, Judge decides). Most jury trials have 12 person juries with one-two alternate jurors; other trials utilize a 6 person jury.
The Superior Court also contracts with the City of Everett’s Municipal Court (located on the west side of the Courthouse) to provide jurors for their trials. Municipal Court trials typically last one day.
If the County Clerk has summonsed you to appear for jury duty to serve in Snohomish County Superior Court (blue summons or sometimes pink summons), Court Administration’s staff coordinate and are responsible for such things as: calling jurors in by group numbers, conducting orientation, providing jury panels for the trials, and sending jurors “work certificates” for their employers.
Your jury term is for one week or one trial. Many trials resolve within the week, but some go longer. You must be available for the entire week of your jury term date.
Complete your questionnaire: Prior to your service, if you have access to the internet, please remember to complete the questionnaire – which is the bottom portion of your summons. You can do so by clicking on this link - County Clerk’s webpage for Jury Information. You may also mail your completed form to the County Clerk. This link has further very useful information regarding jury duty such as courthouse security, excusing/postponing, juror compensation, etc. If you have a pink summons, DO NOT complete the questionnaire online, you must mail it in.
ADA accommodations: The Americans with Disabilities Act dictates that the Court must make reasonable accommodations for those who need assistance. If you believe you will need assistance while serving, please click on the link below for ADA requests.
“How do I know if I need to report for jury duty?”: Your group number appears on your summons [group numbers typically range from 101 – 121, or in special cases with pink summons, numbers may read between 200 - 300 or higher] – so please read your summons carefully and either call our message line at 425.388.3410 on the Saturday or Sunday prior to your term, or click on the link below to see if your group is needed, otherwise you may report in needlessly.
“How often do I need to call into the message line or check online to see if I am needed that week?”: The Jury Coordinator determines each day which juror groups to call in based on the total numbers of jurors requested by Judges for all trials. If you are not called for Monday, you may be instructed to call back later on Monday, and each night of your term, or you should check the online report instructions each day until jurors are told they are done for the week. Check the message line/website after 5:00 pm.
Report in times and current group numbers: Please call the Jury Message line at 425.388.3410 or click on the link below “Juror Report Instructions.” Typical report-in time on your first day is no later than 8:10 am. Times do vary, so please use the phone or online reporting messages for exact report time each day. It is very important to be on time.
Jury Assembly Room (JAR): If your group number has been called for duty, you will be instructed to report to the Jury Assembly Room on your first day of service.
You will enter the courthouse through the front door on Wall St.; if you are disabled you may use the employee entrance on the east side of the courthouse.
The JAR is located on the 1st floor of the courthouse, just past Security on the left side of the main hall. Often the area is roped off to guide jurors in the line. This room is available to jurors throughout the length of service. There is a refrigerator and microwave for your lunch, as well as coffee/tea/cocoa and water. The JAR has Wi-Fi access; however, there are limited outlets and table space at this time. We have magazines, and it is strongly encouraged that you bring reading material – as waiting is inevitable and unavoidable.
On the day of service: Upon arrival, you will receive a pamphlet regarding serving on jury, a restaurant guide and a plastic badge holder. Staff will "scan" your jury badge (the tear out portion in the upper right corner on your summons with the bar code) upon entry to the Jury Assembly in order to give you attendance (credit for serving) and to place you into the jury pool for the duration of your service. After everyone has been checked-in, you will watch a 20 minute video about jury duty and the Jury Coordinator will provide more information to the jury pool so that you will know what to expect throughout your first day, as well as the length of your service.
Service term: Your service in Superior Court is for one week or one trial – most trials last an average of three days, but occasionally they extend beyond one week. You are expected to be available the entire week of your term date. Once selected to go to a courtroom with a group of jurors to begin the selection process for that trial, the Judge will inform the jurors of the expected length of that trial. If not selected for that trial, you will be asked to return to the Jury Assembly Room and you may be returned to the jury pool or selected for another trial.
Orange summons: If your summons is orange, you have been summonsed to serve in District Court. Please call their message line to determine if you need to report for your term date. Each District Court has a different call-in line so please refer to your summons for proper reporting. Everett District Court's courtroom is located on the 1st floor directly past the elevators.
Voir Dire: Otherwise known as Jury Selection process. A jury panel is a group of jurors from the jury pool who are randomly selected by the computer. Each member of the panel is given a number badge and sent to the courtroom to begin voir dire, usually by 10:00 am. The Judge, Prosecutor/Plaintiff’s attorney or Defense/Respondent’s attorney will ask a series of questions to jurors which helps select the panel for that trial.
Empaneled jurors: Once selected to serve on a trial, the Court is counting on each juror to be there every day until a verdict is reached and the Judge releases you. You must not discuss the case with anyone once you are sworn on the case. You must not research the laws, history of the case, blog, or post on any form of social media - as doing so could lead to a mistrial.
Daily schedule: Lunch breaks are taken each day from noon until 1:00 pm. Oftentimes, Judges have other matters to attend to at 9:00 am and 1:00 pm before the jury is brought back into the courtroom. Fifteen-minute breaks are taken mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Jurors are sometimes also excused to the jury rooms adjacent to the courtroom if issues must be discussed/decided outside the jurors’ presence. You can expect to serve each day until approximately 4:30 pm. Once a juror is empaneled on a trial, you are instructed to report as directed by the Judge and/or Law Clerk.
Parking: The County Parking Garage has two entrances – one is on Oakes Ave., the other is on Pacific Ave. Bring the ticket that you receive upon entry to the garage into the courthouse; the Court validates juror parking throughout your service. OVERSIZED VEHICLES must park in the County lot located on the corner of Oakes and Wall St. If you must park in the oversized vehicle lot, tear your Juror Badge out of your summons and bring that with you, but leave the summons on the dashboard of your vehicle. You do not need to pay in the oversized lot, your summons tells the attendants that you are a juror. DO NOT PARK ON THE STREET AROUND THE COURTHOUSE; YOU WILL BE TICKETED BY THE CITY OF EVERETT. Snohomish County Superior Court does not pay jurors' parking tickets.
Exit Questionnaires: Upon completing your service, we ask for each juror’s feedback. Monthly summaries of all juror data and comments are provided to the Superior Court Bench – the Judges read each and every comment. It is because of juror comments that improvements to the system have been made over the years. You will be provided an exit questionnaire when you report for duty; however, if it is lost or forgotten, you may access a copy of the questionnaire by clicking on the link below "Exit Questionnaire". Please be sure to fill in your date of service on this form. You may mail in your questionnaire or scan and email it to the Jury Coordinator: kathy.haggerty@snoco.org.
Snohomish County Superior Court sincerely thanks all jurors for your service and sacrifice.
Below are helpful links to information regarding jury duty with Superior Court only (blue or pink summons):