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Juror FAQ

After jury orientation and for the rest of your term of service, call the jury recording after 5:00 p.m. the evening before the next scheduled trial. Listen for your juror number. Please call the following telephone number to hear the jury recording: 541.473.5172

Do not bring cell phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, cameras, recording devices of any type; any type of weapons, pocket knives, scissors and chemical sprays.

The grand jury is a body of persons sworn to inquire into alleged criminal acts. The grand jury is pulled from the regular jury panel and the term is for one month. The District Attorney's Office coordinates the grand jury. ​

For your convenience, we do have a refrigerator and microwave available. If you would like to bring a snack or lunch, you are welcome to. Lunch is not provided unless jurors are in deliberations. You will be released for a lunch break of approximately one hour, and there are several places to eat in Vale. You are welcome to bring your lunch if you do not want to go out to lunch.

​If you are unable to serve for the term of service you have been summoned to appear, you may request to be deferred to another month. Please indicate on the postcard a month that you would be able to serve, and return the postcard immediately. Deferments are granted if they do not go past one year from your original month you were summoned for jury duty. You may only be deferred one time for a good cause.​

​Oregon law provides that an employer shall not discharge or threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce an employee by reason of the employee's service as a juror. As of January 1, 2012, the law also provides protections related to leave and continuing insurance coverage. See our Juror Employment Protection​ document or contact your jury coordinator for more information, or see ORS 10.090 ​as amended by OR Laws 2011 ch 118 and ch 377.

​You may schedule days off from jury service by phoning in a request at least 24 hours before the day you want off. Call the Jury Coordinator 541.473.5173. Monday through Friday, during business hours​. If the Jury Coordinator is not available, you may leave a message with your name, juror number, and the dates you want off. If you are excused, you will not receive a return call. If your request is denied, the clerk will call you.

Only the trial judge can excuse you on the day of trial or within 24 hours of the trial date. Except under extraordinary circumstances and with permission of the trial judge, you cannot be excused once you have been sworn as a juror on a trial.

In an emergency, call the jury coordinator as soon as possible and explain the circumstances. If you are serving on a jury, contact the jury coordinator or courtroom clerk. If you are serving on Grand Jury, call the district attorney's office at 541.473.5127.​

​You should call 541.473.5172 after 5:00 p.m. on the evening before you are scheduled to report to listen to the jury coordinator’s recorded message to confirm that you need to report. The recording will refer to the trial date. Trials are occasionally cancelled and you should thus listen carefully to your reporting date and time. If you need to call collect, please call 541.473.5173 during business hours and you will need to identify yourself as a juror.​​

Parking is limited. Places available for parking are in front of the courthouse and in the parking lot behind the courthouse (across the street from the courthouse). Do not park in the parking lot directly behind the courthouse, it is marked for county cars only. Do not park in restricted areas, reserved parking spots, private lots or tow-away zones.

​If you are age 70 or older or are a woman breast-feeding a child and you ask to be excused, the Court must excuse you from service. Please make the request on the Juror Response Form that you received with your summons, and you will be excused from jury service. The Circuit Court may also excuse you if:​

  1. jury service causes you, your family, or your employer undue hardship or extreme inconvenience; or,
  2. you are the sole caregiver for a child or other dependent, personally attend to the dependent during the Court's normal hours, and are unable to afford daycare or make other arrangements for the care of the dependent.
The Court will weigh the basis for your excuse against its need for jurors. You must show good cause to the Court why you should be excused under these standards.  The Court may deny a request for excuse under (a) or (b) above and require you to serve or defer your jury duty to a later date.

If you need to ask to be excused because your employer will not pay you for lost time and this causes you a financial hardship, please have your employer contact the jury coordinator by email, fax or mail explaining company policy. In addition, you must provide a written explanation to be excused.  Email or mail the Juror Response Form that you received with your summons.

If you no longer live in Malheur County, are not a citizen of the United States, or are under the age of 18, you do not qualify to serve as a juror. Contact the jury coordinator by email or hard copy in writing, and you will be excused from jury service. You will receive a postcard or email message notifying you of the Court's decision.
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Jurors are entitled to $10 per day for the first two days of service and $25 for the third and subsequent days, unless otherwise provided by the terms of an employment agreement. Under Oregon law, a juror must waive the juror fee if the juror's employer pays the juror a wage or salary for the days the juror is required to attend the circuit court during the jury service term. Jurors may voluntarily waive juror fees; please contact the jury coordinator for more information on fee waiver.

If your employer requires verification of your jury service each day, we have affidavits of jury service that we can provide to you.  Check with the jury coordinator or any of the court staff.