Guide · updated 2026-10-13
Jury Service
What happens when you are summoned for a jury: who sits, how jurors are sworn, how verdicts are reached, and the $300 jury payment.
1. When there is a jury
Trials in the County Court and the Supreme Court have a jury. The jury decides the verdict, guilty or not guilty; the judge runs the trial and, if the verdict is guilty, sentences.
2. Being summoned
A jury is 6 people summoned from the courtroom area. If you are in or near the courthouse when a trial begins, you may be asked to serve. In our courts you may say no if you have a real reason not to sit, such as knowing the accused or a witness. Say so straight away.
3. Being sworn
Jurors are sworn before the trial begins. In our practice the bench asks each juror to promise to decide the case honestly, on the evidence heard in court. Once sworn, you are part of the trial until the verdict or until the jury is discharged.
4. Reaching a verdict
- Murder and treason: the verdict must be unanimous: all 6 jurors agree.
- Every other charge: all but one: at least 5 of the 6 jurors agree.
Decide only on what you heard and saw in the courtroom. What you know from outside the trial, in character or out, has no place in the verdict.
5. Jury pay
Each juror is paid $300 by the department for a verdict.
6. Conduct of jurors
- Stay in the courtroom for the whole trial.
- Do not talk about the case with anyone outside the jury until it is over.
- Listen to every witness before making up your mind.
- Stay in character; jury service is roleplay, and a good jury makes a trial worth playing.
7. Discharge
The bench may discharge the jury, for example if a verdict cannot be reached or a juror cannot continue. Once discharged, jurors are free to go.