COVID-19 and Jury Duty at the Deschutes County Circuit Court

The health and safety of jurors is of utmost importance to the Judges and staff at the Deschutes County Circuit Court. We recognize that we must make it safe to serve as a juror to protect individual jurors and to help protect against the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

If you are in a high-risk group for COVID-19 as defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or work in a medical environment that places you in contact with COVID-19 positive people, please contact the Jury Coordinator to defer and reschedule your jury service.

“I think you all made the experience very safe for the jurors, & everyone involved in trial under these tough circumstances. Thank you for all the information you provided regarding the schedule. It made things less anxiety filled for myself.”

- Juror from trial held June 23, 2020.

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We have made the following changes to make jury duty as safe as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic:

Jury Orientation

Most of the chairs have been removed from the jury assembly room, leaving only twenty-seven seats, all six feet apart. This ensures that jurors are socially distanced during jury orientation.

All chairs are sanitized using medical grade wipes between orientation sessions.

The content of jury orientation has been reduced to decrease the amount of time jurors spend in the jury assembly room.

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Jury Trials

In advance of a planned remodel, Deschutes County conducted extensive demolition in Courtroom B to allow for jurors, litigants, attorneys and witnesses to all be seated at least six feet distant from each other. All twelve-person jury trials will be held in this courtroom. Six-person jury trials may be held in a non-modified courtroom.

During trial, only the judge, court staff, jurors, litigants, counsel and witnesses during their testimony are allowed in the courtroom. Public viewing of the trial is done by remote video feed to a second courtroom.

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At the start of trial, seated jurors is given travel-sized, hand-sanitizer for their personal use during trial which they keep at the end of trial. Juror's may bring their own personal water bottle into court or may request bottled water from court staff. Each juror seat has a small, personal trash can.

Jury deliberation is held in the courtroom, allowing jurors to remain seated six feet apart in the same chair they occupied during trial.

If you have any concerns or comments during or after your service at the courthouse, please contact Jeff Hall, Trial Court Administrator at jeff.hall@ojd.state.or.us or 541-317-4780.