Do grand juries get sequestered? Would I have to stay overnight?

I have learned so much reading your site. Thanks for making this available to people like myself who are full-time Mom's at home!

I have been ordered to appear for Grand Jury Duty in my County. The Sheriff told me this was the first time in several years that a Grand Jury been convened, and that it is quite the honor.

I would like to serve and I have had all my questions answered from your website but one. (If I have overlooked this somehow, I apologize).

You stated that Grand Juries usually meet one or two days per month. My concern is that I would have to potentially spend time away overnight. I have a 1 year old baby and I couldn't do this for any length of time. Do County Grand Juries get sequestered?

Response:

I'm glad the site is helpful - I'm copying my colleague, Lori Shaw, on this email because she has become my collaborator on the site, so she gets half of any credit there is.

As to serving, grand juries are not sequestered, so you do not have to worry about that. (At least, I have never heard of one being sequestered, and I do not think that would happen, as it is inconsistent with the nature of a grand jury. You do not have the concerns about bias in grand jury proceedings that you do at trial, since grand juries do not decide guilt or innocence . . . they "just" bring charges.)

I cannot say exactly how long your grand jury will serve each month--especially since it seems a long time since a grand jury has been convened in your county--but I seriously doubt you will have to worry about overnight stays. In smaller counties, state grand juries tend to meet for, at most, a day at a time.

If you are concerned about the meeting times, you might call the county court, ask for the clerk who deals with grand juries, and ask him or her if they can give you any idea how many days a month the grand jury would sit, and how long it will sit each day.

SWB

2002