Civic Duty

The county clerk prevailed upon me to be a part of the January 2009 Term Grand Jury selection committee. So I reported for my civic duty at 8:30 this morning at the County Courtroom. This was a "first" and I wasn't quite sure what was expected of me.

The Grand Jury Commission is made up of five people who meet certain requirements as outlined by the judge. Our job was to pick 20 people who we felt would be fair jurors. After being sworn in, we were given the latest and greatest voter register and the Little Town phone book. Paper and pencils were issued and we each began a list of names. We then compared our lists and suggestions were made as to who should or shouldn't be considered to serve on the grand jury. Then the 20 names were shuffled and drawn for the order in which they would be called.

Sounds simple; doesn't it? The first time we drew the 20 names, the majority in the top 12 were women. The second time around, the majority were men. So we tossed the whole list away and started over. It took us a couple of hours but we got the job done. The five of us who served as commissioners are now exempt for twelve months from serving on the Grand Jury.

And so now you know as much as I do about the Little Town method of selecting a Grand Jury. I suppose this is how it's done in every county of our great state. Sandra, I'm sure you know much more about this stuff than I do but for a small town girl I found it very enlightening. Oh, and by the way -- I donated my civic duty paycheck to the local Meals on Wheels program.