Jury Commissioners

James Codd

Peggy Ulm

Judith Abbott

Eligible Jurors:

  • At least 18 years of age

  • Resident of Adams County

  • Read and speak English

  • Citizen of the United States

Jury pools consist of a merged compilation from:

  • Voter’s Registration

  • Driver’s License Registration

  • Illinois Disabled Person ID Card

  • Illinois Identification Card

  • Illinois Unemployment

Jury deferral/excusal permitted when:

  • Health (Dr.’s letter required.)

  • Extreme hardship.

A juror may be deferred one time to another date based upon unavoidable family or work conflict. (You must contact the Jury Commission Clerk in advance.)

Jurors are exempt if:

  1. They no longer live in Adams County.

  2. They have served within the last twelve month time period.

  3. They are currently serving a sentence for a crime or are on Probation or Parole.

Juror Pay is $12.50 per day plus mileage.

There are NO work exemptions from jury duty.

General Information:

By statute, employers must give a juror time off work for his/her jury duty and may not require an employee to work second or third shifts while on jury duty. However, an employer is not legally required to reimburse the juror his/her pay.

Grand Jury and Petit Jury

A petit jury is generally 12 people sworn to try a civil or criminal case, hearing evidence and rendering a verdict. A grand jury is comprised of 16 people and is sworn to hear evidence presented by the prosecution and determine if such evidence is sufficient to charge a person or persons with a crime by a Bill of Indictment.

Civil and Criminal Cases

A civil case involves persons, partnerships or corporations unable to resolve a legal dispute with each other and ask that it be decided in court. A criminal case is when the State of Illinois, by action of the State’s Attorney’s Office charges someone with a violation of a criminal law.

How do I get selected for Jury Duty?

Each month the Presiding Circuit Judge orders 50-75 names to be selected at random for each week of jury trials. The computer randomly selects those jurors. A summons is then sent out to those people.

Every year the Jury Commission Clerk requests a list of approximately 3,000 random names from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts in Springfield, Illinois. These names are compiled from these lists: Voter’s Registration, Driver’s License Registration, Illinois Disabled Person ID Card, Illinois Identification Card, and Illinois Unemployment.

After these names are drawn in Springfield, the random selection is sent to Adams County. Questionnaires are then sent out to all prospective jurors. Failure to complete and return the questionnaire can result in being held in contempt of court. The Jury Commissioners process all returned questionnaires to determine eligibility. The Jury Commission Clerk then enters all pertinent information into the computer. The names can be in the computer for up to three years. Once your name is chosen and you appear for jury duty, you are no longer in the active pool of jurors.