Juror Appreciation Week set for May 8 through 12

Yolo Superior Court announced Juror Appreciation Week will be May 8 through May 12.

According to a local press release, Jury Appreciation Week was established by the California Legislature in 1998 to recognize the service and participation of jurors from our community and acknowledge the important contributions of citizens who devote their time and effort in “making the cherished right of trial by jury a reality.”

The COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the court system, especially related to in-person jury trials. The court and justice partners, working together, assured that jury trials moved forward and that could not have happened if citizens did not show up when summoned.

In Yolo County, citizens showed up for jury service and Jury Trials have moved forward with little backlog.

“Yolo, a mid-sized court, summons an average of 55,500 citizens to serve each year. Yolo’s failure to appear rate has decreased over the past two years by 10% due to our technological advances,” stated CEO and Jury Commissioner Shawn C. Landry.

To be more efficient and protect public safety, the court leveraged technology to find new ways to call and process jurors. Text reminders of jury service were added, a more efficient check-in process was created as well as moving jury orientation and hardships to a remote process using Zoom.

The virtual hardship and orientation process allows potential jurors to begin the jury process at home without taking time off work or having to get childcare.

Jurors are essential to the jury trial process and Jury Appreciation Week is a small way the court can recognize the hundreds of citizens in Yolo County who show up for jury service.