What database does the LA Superior Court use to summon potential jurors? Is it the voter registration list?

Question

What database does the LA Superior Court use to summon potential jurors? Is it the voter registration list?

Answer 1

Yes.

Answer 2

The beginning point for summoning a fair cross section of the citizenry is the source list(s) used by the court system for identifying potential jurors. One list that is used by most state courts and federal district courts is the list of registered voters within the geographic area covered by the court (judicial district, county, etc). Some courts use this list alone. Other courts, in an effort to include more potential jurors, particularly those who have traditionally been under-represented in the jury pool, use additional lists. The other most commonly used list is licensed drivers. Other lists used by some courts include public assistance rolls, unemployment compensation rolls, property tax rolls, and others.

Beyond the use of the statutorily required lists, the choice to use supplementary lists is almost always left by legislatures to officials at the level of the local judicial district. Thus, the lists used often vary significantly within a state and across federal judicial districts. For example, in Indiana the statewide rule gives a great deal of discretion to the jury administrator of the local court: “The jury administrator shall compile the jury pool annually by selecting names from all voter registration lists for the county, supplemented with names from at least one other list of persons resident in the county, such as lists of utility customers, property taxpayers, persons filing income tax returns, motor vehicle registrations, city directories, telephone directories, and driver’s licenses.”

Despite efforts to deepen the jury pool through multiple source lists, under-representation of minority groups continues to be a problem for most courts.