MINNESOTA COURT RULES

GENERAL RULES OF PRACTICE

Rule 803.Jury Commissioner

(a) A jury commissioner is established in each county to administer the jury system in cooperation with the state court administrator's office as part of the State Jury Program under the supervision of the Judicial Council. The jury commissioner shall be the judicial district administrator or designee. If another person is designated jury commissioner, the other person shall be an employee of the judicial branch and responsible to the judicial district administrator in the performance of the jury commissioner's tasks.

(b) The jury commissioner shall analyze information collected by the state court administrator's office regarding the performance of the jury system on a regular basis to evaluate:

(1) the inclusiveness of the jury source list and the representativeness of the jury pool;

(2) the effectiveness of qualification and summoning procedures;

(3) the responsiveness of individual citizens to jury duty summonses;

(4) the efficient use of jurors; and

(5) the cost effectiveness of the jury system.

The jury commissioner must promptly report to the state court administrator's office any area of concern identified as a result of this analysis. The jury commissioner must work with the state court administrator's office to make any needed changes or improvements to the county's jury system as part of the State Jury Program.

(c) The jury commissioner should seek to secure adequate and suitable facilities for juror use in each court facility in which jury trials are held.

(Amended effective January 1, 2007; amended effective November 22, 2023.)

Advisory Committee Comment - 2007 Amendment

Rule 803(b)(1) is amended to state the jury commissioner's responsibility more precisely. Because a jury commissioner does not have control over the composition of the jury source list, the rule should not impose a duty relating to the source list. It shifts that responsibility, however, to require the jury commissioner assess the representativeness of the jury pool as a whole, not the constituent lists. This amendment is not intended to lessen in any way the representativeness of jury pools.

Advisory Committee Comment - 2023 Amendments

Rule 803 is modified in 2023 to reflect the consolidation of jury processes into a consistent, statewide system and process overseen and coordinated by the state court administrator's office under Judicial Council Policy, rather than a county-by-county system.