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Because grand jurors usually serve for a long time, a court may have to replace some jurors. Federal courts can select alternate jurors when they impanel a grand jury, but do not have to do so. They could not choose alternate grand jurors until 1987; they were given the option of doing so by an amendment that was added to Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure in 1987. Until then, federal courts replaced grand jurors by choosing new jurors, using the same procedure they used to choose the original jurors. 
Like the pre-1987 federal courts, most states do not let courts pick alternates when they impanel a grand jury. In 30 states and the District of Columbia replacement jurors are chosen as needed. It is not clear how a few states replace grand jurors who can no longer serve, but they probably follow the same practice. Nine states--Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina--require that a court choose a specific number of alternate jurors when it impanels a grand jury. Six others--Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming--follow the current federal practice by letting courts choose alternates but not indicating how many should be chosen.
In the list below, the letters AN following a state's name means jurors are replaced "as needed"; courts in this state do not choose alternates when impaneling a grand jury. A number following a state's name (4) means the courts in this state select this many alternates when they impanel a grand jury. NS means courts in this state choose alternates when they impanel a grand jury, but the number to be chosen is "not specified. NI means he state's rules and statutes do "not indicate" how grand jurors are replaced. NA means the state uses a system in which alternate or replacement jurors are not required. The last entry for each state is a citation to the statute or court rule that defines its policy on alternate grand jurors; if a citation is included for a state that does not indicate how grand jurors are replaced, the citation is to the court rule or statute that generally covers this issue.

	AN Ala. R. Crim. P. 12.2(c) & Ala. Code §12-16-207(b)
	AN Alaska R. Crim. P. 6(f)
	4 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §21-401(1)
	AN Ark. Code. Ann. §16-32-201(f)
	AN Cal. Penal Code §908.1
	4 Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. §13-72-103 & §13-72-106
	NA Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. §54-47(b)(3)
	AN Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 6(g)
	AN D.C. Sup. Ct. R. Crim. P. 6(g)
	AN Fla. Stat. Ann. §905.01(2)
	3 Ga. Code Ann. §15-12-61(a) (alternates "may" be chosen)
	AN Haw. R. Penal P. 6(g) & Haw. Rev. Stat. §612-16(e)
	AN Id. R. Crim. P. 6(j)
	AN Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 725 ¶5/112-3(c)
	AN Ind. Code. Ann. §35-34-2-3(c)
	AN Iowa R. Crim. P. 3(3)(C)
	AN Kan. Stat. Ann. §22-3013(2)
	AN Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §29a.260 & Admin. Proc. §26
	2 La. Code Crim. P. Ann. §413a. & 415a
	AN Maine R. Crim. P. 6(j) & Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit. 14 §1216
	NS Md. Code Ann, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §8-208
	AN Mass. Gen. Laws. Ann. Ch. 234a §30
	AN Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. §767.8
	AN Minn. R. Crim. P. 18.09
	AN Miss. Unif. R. Cir. & Cty. Ct. 7.02
	NS Mo. Ann. Stat. §540.021(4)
	NS Mont. Code Ann. §§46-11-301(2) & 46-11-302(2)
	3 Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1633 & Neb. Rev. Stat. §29-1413
	12 Nev. Rev. Stat. §§6.110(3) & 6.120(2)
	NS
	AN N.J. Stat. Ann. §2a:73-2
	NS N.M. Stat. Ann. §31-6-1
	NI N.Y. Crim. Pro. Law §190.20(2)(B) (McKinney 1995)
	AN N.C. Gen. Stat. §15a-622(h)
	AN N.D. Cent. Code §§29-10.1-20
	Up to 5 Ohio R. Crim. P. 6(a)
	NS Okla. Stat. Ann. Tit. 22 §329
	AN Or. Rev. Stat. §132.110(2)
	7 Pa. R. Crim. P. 253(a)
	AN R.I. Super. R. Crim. P. 6(g)
	3 S.C. Code Ann. §§14-7-1570
	AN S.D. Codified Laws §23a-5-20
	AN Tenn. R. Crim. P. 6(b)(1)
	AN Tex. Crim. Proc. Code Ann. Art. 19.18
	NS Utah Code Ann. §77-10a-7(2)
	AN Vermont R. Crim. P. 6(h)
	AN Va. Code. Ann. §19.2-196
	AN Wash. Rev. Code Ann. §10.27.060(2)
	AN W. Va. R. Crim. P. 6(g) & W. Va. Code. §52-2-10
	NI Wis. Stat. Ann. §756.16
	NS Wyo. R. Crim. P. 6(a)(4)(C) & Wyo. Stat. §7-5-103(b)

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