You got inside but this place is huge! Where do you go?

Congratulations!  You successfully made it past security and found all your clothes.  Now what?

My ankle broke just by looking at these shoes

Step one – look at the paper you brought with you.  You did bring it, right?  The one that tells you what to do and where to go?

Is it a jury summons?  If so, in my experience most courthouses will have the jury assembly room clearly marked, with signs and sometimes even stripes on the floor.

Follow the footsteps

Follow the green line

The jury assembly room is usually large and comfy and has sections where you can watch TV [usually shows I don't want to watch], quiet sections where you can read and work [and sleep], and even an outside patio with chairs and shade umbrellas.  Tables, electric outlets, even Wifi.  All the modern conveniences because courts know how much we all do NOT want to be there.  So they try to make it as painless as possible.

Comfy jury assembly room

When you received your jury summons, did you go to the court's website?  Here in SoCal you can conveniently do lots of stuff online, like:

~Complete your registration.

~Reschedule your reporting date – if you're scheduled for a date during the school year, or you're a nursing mother, or you'll be on vacation, you can choose a different date.
~~~~Hint#1 – if you want the best odds at being selected for a panel, choose a Monday or Tuesday.  If you want the best odds at NOT being selected, choose a Thursday or Wednesday [or Friday, but in my county if you choose Friday that means you want call-in status] or a date during a week containing a holiday.
~~~~Hint#2 – if you have a job like I do, I'm scheduled in trial on certain dates and I can't be assigned to call-in status [where you call a number after 5pm every day for a week to learn whether you have to report the following day] because I'd have to clear my calendar for an entire week since I wouldn't know which date I'd have to report.  And it seems I'm always assigned to call-in status.  I reschedule to a specific date that works with my calendar.  Conversely, if you want call-in status, you can change to that.

The Jury by John Morgan 1861

 ~Learn where the jury parking lot is located [see previous blog post on how expensive it might be if you park in the wrong lot].

~Learn more information about the jury process

~Learn what things you can't bring with you to the courthouses

~Learn what amenities are available to you in the jury assembly room [wifi, electric outlets, cafeterias, etc]

Tell us in the comments about your jury experience.

If you're not in court for jury duty, come back next week!