Mobile County - Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama

Jury Information

If you have received a jury summons, you should register online at https://juror.alacourt.gov immediately.

JURORS: Please review the Juror FAQ to find answers to questions about how the Mobile County courts handle jury assembly and trials.
Thank you for serving as a Mobile County Circuit Court juror. Below is important information that we hope will be helpful to you during your jury service.

***YOUR PANEL NUMBER AND YOUR JUROR CALL IN NUMBER ARE VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE WRITE THEM DOWN! YOU WILL NEED THEM ALL WEEK!

JURY LOUNGE

As a juror, you are allowed to bring food and drink into the courthouse in a closed container. There is a jury lounge located on the 8^thfloor for juror use. There are tables and vending machines in the lounge. We do not have a microwave or refrigerator. If you are called back for jury service, we will have complimentary coffee in the jury lounge each day for you.

ARRIVAL AND ELEVATORS

We ask that you arrive at the courthouse 15 minutes prior to your report time as elevators are often crowded.

PARKING

The court does not validate parking or reimburse for parking or parking tickets. There are numerous parking lots available to jurors at varying rates. PARKING ON THE STREET IS NOT ADVISED AND IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. You may not leave jury service to feed a meter.

JUROR PAY AND WORK CERTIFICATES

State law sets jury fees. Juror payment is $25.00/day plus $.625 a mile (round trip). We will do our very best to provide you with your check and work certificate prior to releasing you from jury service. If that is not possible, we will place your check and work certificate in the mail to you the very next morning.

Please note: an Alabama employer is legally responsible for paying a full-time employee's regular wages while in service as a juror.

JURY PROCESS

We have 8 Circuit Judges who hear jury trials each jury term. Some judges will hear civil cases and some criminal.

We utilize a juror call-in phone system to inform jurors of when they need to return each day for jury duty. This allows us to only call back a certain number of jurors that are needed each day.

CALL IN JUROR LINE

Generally jury service is for a one-week term. No cases are scheduled to begin on a Friday. Your jury service will end after Thursday unless you are serving as a juror on a case that will continue into Friday. In some rare instances, cases may last longer than a week.

As a juror if you are not sitting on a jury trial, you should call the number provided to you by Court Administration or the Judge's office each night after 5pm. The number will contain a recorded message that will tell you based on your panel number whether you need to report the next day. It will also provide you with a time and a location to report. If you call the recorded message and your panel number is not caned back for the next day, you should report to work because your work certificate will show exactly what days you were with us. If you are a night shift worker (i.e. a nurse working a 7am-7pm shift), please notify Court Administration immediately for specific reporting instructions!

You will continue to call the number each night after 5pm until you serve as a trial juror in a case and/or until you are advised that you have been RELEASED for the week from jury duty.

Should there be a system failure and you are unable to retrieve the recorded message, YOU SHOULD REPORT TO JURY DUTY AT 9:00 a.m. IN JURY ASSEMBLY on the 8th floor the following day.

EMERGENCIES

If you have a true emergency and are unable to come back and serve as a juror, you should immediately contact Court Administration at 251-574-8603 to let us know of the emergency. If we do not answer, please leave a detailed message with your full name, panel number, details of your issue and a good telephone number to return your call. Please note that we will require documentation to excuse you (i.e. doctor's note, invoice from flat tire or wrecker service)

TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Court Administration: 251-574-8603 (This is NOT the juror call in line)

FAX NUMBER: 251-574-4741

We hope that your service as a trial juror will be both interesting and informative. The Circuit Judges and their staff along with my staff in Court Administration will make every effort to make it a pleasant experience.

Kristin Muscat
Court Administrator
13^thJudicial Circuit
State of Alabama

Welcome New Jurors

You have been summoned to render an important service as a juror. You have enjoyed the privileges of citizenship and the protection of your liberties and property by the government. As a juror, you are part of the judicial system of our state and will serve as an officer of the Court along with the judges and lawyers. Your service as a juror is as important as those of the judge. You are obligated to perform this service honestly and conscientiously, without fear or favor.

The purpose of this information is to help you understand the procedure in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, and to enable you better to do your part in administering justice. In the case in which you sit as a juror, the judge will give you instructions as to the law applicable to that case.

THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF SUCH INSTRUCTIONS.

We hope that your service as a trial juror will be both interesting and informative. The Circuit Court Judges and their staffs will make every effort to make it a pleasant experience.

S. Wesley Pipes
Presiding Circuit Judge
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
State of Alabama

Please see the "Empanelment & Service" page for directions.

Why a Trial by Jury?

Trial by jury is deeply established in the American judicial system and guarantees are found both in the federal and state constitutions.

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall happen, …"
United States Constitution, Amendment VI

"In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved …"
United States Constitution, Amendment VII

If you have received a jury summons, you should register online at https://juror.alacourt.gov immediately.

JURORS: Please review the Juror FAQ to find answers to questions about how the Mobile County courts handle jury assembly and trials.Thank you for serving as a Mobile County Circuit Court juror. Below is important information that we hope will be helpful to you during your jury service.

Welcome New Jurors

S. Wesley PipesPresiding Circuit JudgeThirteenth Judicial CircuitState of Alabama

Why a Trial by Jury?

JURORS: Please review the Juror FAQ to find answers to questions about how the Mobile County courts handle jury assembly and trials.
Thank you for serving as a Mobile County Circuit Court juror. Below is important information that we hope will be helpful to you during your jury service.

S. Wesley Pipes
Presiding Circuit Judge
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
State of Alabama