Tax records lead Judiciary
to send kids jury surveys

Question: Recently, my two sons, ages 7 and 14, received a jury duty questionnaire. I understand that names are retrieved from driver's license and voters lists. However, they are both not old enough for either. Are there any other sources? I'm concerned that perhaps someone is using their Social Security numbers. How can I have that checked?

Q: From where does the state Judiciary get its list or lists of prospective jurors? I'm interested because my 5-year-old son just got a jury questionnaire in the mail. I don't think they got his name and address from driver's license or voter registration records. While I think he would enjoy at least some parts of the selection and trial processes, I'm also concerned that if he gets selected for a long trial, he will run afoul of truancy laws.

Answer: The Hawaii State Judiciary obtains names for jury pools from state income tax records, as well as from voter registration and driver's license lists.

If taxes are being paid on a behalf of a minor, he or she might be randomly selected, said Freida Baker, jury selection supervisor for the Judiciary.

Parents sometimes get upset when their minor children receive the questionnaires, thinking such names can easily be purged, she said.

But Baker explained the tax listings don't reveal birth dates or any information beyond names and Social Security numbers.

Driver's license records, by comparison, do note birth dates, "so we can weed out the minors who do have licenses," she said.

Using Social Security numbers also helps weed out duplicates, she said, so that someone whose name could be plucked from all three sources would not be sent three survey forms.

Baker assures you that "we use this data solely for the jury selection process."

In the meantime, parents of minors who are sent the forms need only to indicate on the form that a minor is involved, and they will be excused.

Questionnaires are required to be completed and returned to the court, which will then determine qualification.

To qualify for jury selection, the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section 612-4, requires that a person be a U.S. citizen; a resident of the state and of the circuit the court is in; be 18 or over; able to read, speak and understand English; not be a convicted felon in either state or federal court and not pardoned.

If you cannot "satisfactorily" serve on a jury because of a physical or mental disability, you will be disqualified.

You can also seek to be exempt from serving if you are a practicing physician, dentist, licensed minister or priest; an attorney; a U.S., state or county judge; an elected official; head of an executive department; an active-duty police officer, firefighter or military; or if you served as a juror with the state or federal court within the past year.

Also, the court may excuse you if you can show that jury duty will cause a serious personal hardship.

About 700 jurors are called to duty each week on Oahu, or about 36,000 a year, according to the Judiciary.

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