MINNESOTA COURT RULES

GENERAL RULES OF PRACTICE

Rule 806.Jury Source List

(a) The state court administrator's office in cooperation with the jury commissioner for each county is responsible for compiling and maintaining copies of all lists to be used in the random selection of prospective jurors. These lists shall be compiled annually when possible. No names shall be placed on the jury source list, grand jury list, or petit jury venire except as provided by the State Jury Administration Plan or these rules.

(b) The voter registration list and the driver's license and ID cardholders list must serve as the basis for the jury source list. The jury source list may be supplemented with names from other lists only as directed by the Judicial Council. Whoever has custody, possession, or control of the lists used in compiling the jury source list shall provide them to the state court administrator's office, upon request at any reasonable time.

(c) The jury source list must be used for the random selection of names or identifying numbers of prospective jurors to whom qualification questionnaires and summonses for service must be sent.

(d) The state court administrator's office and the jury commissioners shall review data derived from the jury source list every year for its inclusiveness and the jury pool for its representativeness of the adult population in each county. The state court administrator's office shall report the results of the review annually to Judicial Council.

(e) If the chief judge, or designee, the state court administrator, or a jury commissioner determines that improvement is needed in either the inclusiveness of the jury source list or the representativeness of the jury pool, they may bring any such concerns to the Judicial Council, who will determine any appropriate corrective action.

(Amended effective January 1, 2008; amended effective November 22, 2023.)

Advisory Committee Comment - 1994 Amendment

Rule 806 is amended to incorporate a change made in jury source list creation that predated the adoption of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice but which was not incorporated in the final draft of the rules. This change is not intended to change the existing practice in creation of jury source lists.

Advisory Committee Comment - 2008 Amendment

Rules 806(e) and (f) are 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. This change is similar in purpose and form to the amendment of Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 803, effective January 1, 2007.

Advisory Committee Comment - 2023 Amendments

Rule 806 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 (SCAO) under Judicial Council Policy, rather than a county-by-county system. All counties now summon jurors from a juror source list created at the statewide level, all counties use the same summons and questionnaire form, which is mailed to prospective jurors by a single statewide vendor, and the majority of the work summoning and qualifying jurors is done by a Consolidated Jury Unit. In 2021, a State Jury Administration Plan was adopted by all 10 judicial district administrators in their capacity as jury commissioners under Rule 803. In addition, the state Jury Management Resource Team (JMRT), which includes members with jury expertise from all 10 judicial districts, advises SCAO on statewide jury program management issues. Overall jury program management policy is set by the Judicial Council, and chief judges retain authority to address local issues via their policy-setting role as members of the Judicial Council.

Rule 806(d) incorporates the recommendation of the Committee for Equality and Justice that the juror source list be reviewed for representativeness every year rather than every four years.