County of Loudoun News Release

September 4, 2009

Gary M. Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court, asks Loudoun County residents to check their mailboxes for juror questionnaires starting September 11, 2009. On that day, the Supreme Court of Virginia will begin mailing juror questionnaires to 40,000 citizens chosen randomly to receive a questionnaire.   The mailings will continue throughout the following week until September 18.

Each year, the Supreme Court of Virginia mails out questionnaires for the Circuit Court which marks the beginning of the jury trial process. This year, Clemens expects approximately 40,000 questionnaires to go out in the mail – 2,000 more than were mailed last year.

“All you have to do is read the newspaper each week and you can see that we are experiencing significant increases in the number of jury trials as a result of certain criminal offenses,” Clemens said. “As a result we will need more jurors to be available to serve on jury duty.”

While recipients of the juror questionnaire have two options for completing it, Clemens requests citizens use the website to complete the questionnaire.  Citizens who receive a questionnaire in the mail can access the county website and use the link provided to complete the questionnaire online. The website address is www.loudoun.gov/jury. By clicking on the link provided – “Loudoun County Juror Questionnaire” – one can access the online questionnaire system.

The other way to complete the questionnaire is to simply complete the paper questionnaire received in the mail by hand and return it by first-class mail.  Clemens and jury manager Leslie Kelly prefer that citizens complete the questionnaire by using the website.

“The online completion of the questionnaire saves the county time and money because it is more efficient using technology to capture critical information,” said Clemens.  Using the website is faster than completing the paperwork by hand and it saves the citizen postage costs to return the questionnaire.

The Clerk’s Office expects a large number of citizens to access the website to complete their questionnaire. Anyone who experiences difficulty using the website may contact the jury management department headed by Kelly at 703-777-0677, and a jury office representative will provide assistance.

Citizens who receive the questionnaire are expected to complete and return the document to the Clerk’s Office. Once the questionnaires are processed, the jury management department will create a list of prospective jurors based upon the responses in the questionnaires. Later in the fall, Jury Commissioners will be impaneled for the purpose of certifying those individuals who are qualified to serve as jurors.

The jury management office will use the certified list of qualified jurors to issue jury summonses for the 2010 term of jury trials.  Citizens who receive a summons in 2010 will be required to report for jury duty on the prescribed day of jury service unless they have been released from service. “Even though we are several months away from having our first jury trial in 2010, the jury trial process in Loudoun County begins in August 2009,” commented Clemens.

“The Clerk’s Office and the Circuit Court appreciate the cooperation of the citizens who receive the questionnaires and promptly complete them,” said Clemens. “The timely participation of those who receive the questionnaires is beneficial to the efficiency of the jury management office and it helps the court system provide the constitutional guarantee of a jury trial to criminal and civil litigants.”

For more information about jury duty and the juror questionnaires, please click on “Jury Information” on the Clerk of the Circuit Court webpage at www.loudoun.gov/clerk or go to www.loudoun.gov/jury.  To find out more about the services offered by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, please visit www.loudoun.gov/clerk.

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Contact: Gary M. Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court, 703-777-0270