Jury selection is the process of summoning, questioning and selecting jurors to serve on a jury for a trial. Jury selection should be representative of the jury pool of the community and a large distinctive group cannot be eliminated from jury selection. Additionally, jury selection cannot be based on discrimination.
Generally, courts will first mail jury summons to people randomly selected from compiled lists of registered voters and people with drivers licenses. Those who are selected must meet the jury duty qualifications, for example, reside in the jurisdiction and have no felony convictions.
This pool of potential jurors will then be divided into smaller jury panels and assigned to different courtrooms to sit in a jury box . Then the prospective jurors will be questioned and challenged by judges and both parties to determine if they decide the case impartially. This process of questioning is called voir dire. Common questions include whether the prospective jurors have any information about the case, whether they are related to a party in the trial and whether their prior experiences might make them prejudiced.
Jurors selected to be seated will be sworn in before the trial begins. Those who are not selected will be sent home. The standard jury size for civil cases is usually six and for criminal cases the standard is usually twelve. However, this may vary from state to state and on the type of trial.
[Last reviewed in March of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]