§ 9-6. Jury service a public duty; excuses to be allowed in exceptional cases; procedure.
§9‑6. Jury service a public duty; excuses to be allowed in exceptionalcases; procedure.
(a) The GeneralAssembly hereby declares the public policy of this State to be that juryservice is the solemn obligation of all qualified citizens, and that excusesfrom the discharge of this responsibility should be granted only for reasons ofcompelling personal hardship or because requiring service would be contrary tothe public welfare, health, or safety.
(b) Pursuant to theforegoing policy, each chief district court judge shall promulgate procedureswhereby he or any district court judge of his district court districtdesignated by him, prior to the date that a jury session (or sessions) ofsuperior or district court convenes, shall receive, hear, and pass on applicationsfor excuses from jury duty. The procedures shall provide for the time andplace, publicly announced, at which applications for excuses will be heard, andprospective jurors who have been summoned for service shall be so informed. Incounties located in a district or set of districts as defined in G.S. 7A‑41.1(a)which have a trial court administrator, the chief district judge may assign theduty of passing on applications for excuses from jury service to theadministrator. In all cases concerning excuses, the clerk of court or the trialcourt administrator shall notify prospective jurors of the disposition of theirexcuses.
(c) A prospective jurorexcused by a judge in the exercise of the discretion conferred by subsection(b) may be required by the judge to serve as a juror in a subsequent session ofcourt. If required to serve subsequently, the juror shall be considered on suchoccasion the same as if he were a member of the panel regularly summoned forjury service at that time.
(d) A judge hearingapplications for excuses from jury duty shall excuse any person disqualifiedunder § 9‑3.
(e) The judge shallinform the clerk of superior court of persons excused under this section, andthe clerk within 10 days shall so notify the register of deeds, who shall notethe excuse on the juror's card and file it separately from the jury list.
(f) The discretionaryauthority of a presiding judge to excuse a juror at the beginning of or duringa session of court is not affected by this section. (1967, c. 218, s. 1; 1969, c.205, ss. 4, 5; 1971, c. 377, s. 30; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1207, s. 1; 1981, c.430, s. 2; 1985, c. 609, s. 2; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1037, s. 47.)