General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 234 Juries
- Massachusetts General Laws - Qualifications; exemptions - Chapter 234, Section 1
A person of either sex qualified to vote for representatives to the general court, whether a registered voter or not, shall be liable to serve...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Excusing persons from jury duty - Chapter 234, Section 1A
If at any time it appears that the public interest will be served by excusing any person from jury service, or if the performance thereof...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Compensation of municipal employees while serving as jurors in state or federal courts - Chapter 234, Section 1B
An employee of a city or town who serves as a grand or traverse juror in a federal court or in the courts of the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Subsequent service - Chapter 234, Section 2
A person attending and serving as a juror in any court in pursuance of a draft shall not be liable to be drawn or to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Limit of service in Suffolk county - Chapter 234, Section 3
Except as provided in section three A, a person shall not serve as a traverse juror in Suffolk county for more than thirty days, except...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Postponement of service; term of service - Chapter 234, Section 3A
The presiding justice at a sitting of the court with juries may, in his discretion, postpone the whole or any part of the time of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Preparation of lists; number on lists; decisions in disputes; failure of registrar to comply - Chapter 234, Section 4
The board of election commissioners in cities having such boards, the board of registrars of voters in other cities and the board of selectmen in...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Printing of lists; delivery to clerks, etc. - Chapter 234, Section 5
Jury lists prepared as above provided shall annually, before August first, be printed with the name of each juror together with the information provided for...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Revision of lists in cities - Chapter 234, Section 6
If a list prepared as provided in this chapter includes less than one juror for every one hundred inhabitants of a city, said registrars of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Deposit of names in box - Chapter 234, Section 7
The aldermen or selectmen shall cause the names on the list as completed to be written each on a separate ballot and shall roll or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Withdrawal of names - Chapter 234, Section 8
If a person whose name has been so placed in the jury box has been convicted of any felony, or of any other offence punishable...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Publication of lists - Chapter 234, Section 9
The jury lists in cities shall be published as a public document, with the address and occupation of each juror and in towns, the list...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Writs of venire facias - Chapter 234, Section 10
The clerks of the supreme judicial and superior courts shall, before each sitting and at such other times as the respective courts may order, issue...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Service - Chapter 234, Section 11
The venires shall be delivered to the sheriff of the county to be transmitted by him to a deputy sheriff of the county, or to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Additional venires - Chapter 234, Section 12
Either court may issue venires for additional jurors when necessary for the convenient despatch of its business. They shall be served and returned, and the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Dukes county - Chapter 234, Section 13
If a case is pending in the superior court for Dukes county, in which the inhabitants of a town in said county are disqualified from...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Bristol county - Chapter 234, Section 14
At the sittings of the supreme judicial court in Bristol county for which jurors are summoned to attend, one or more jurors from Nantucket county...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1936, 161, Sec. 1 - Chapter 234, Section 15
Repealed, 1936, 161, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Venires in Barnstable - Chapter 234, Section 16
No venires for the drawing and summoning of jurors for the sitting of the supreme judicial court for Barnstable county shall be issued unless at...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Drawing of jurors - Chapter 234, Section 17
All jurors shall be selected by drawing ballots from the jury box.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Drawing jurors in cities - Chapter 234, Section 18
If jurors are to be drawn in a city, the mayor and city clerk shall meet with the aldermen at its regular place of meeting....
- Massachusetts General Laws - Drawing jurors in towns - Chapter 234, Section 19
When jurors are to be drawn in a town, the town clerk and selectmen shall meet at the clerk’s office or at some other public...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Return of names to box - Chapter 234, Section 20
If a person drawn as provided in the two preceding sections is exempt or unable by reason of illness or absence from home to attend...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Endorsement on ballot - Chapter 234, Section 21
If a person is drawn and returned to serve as a juror in a court, the selectmen or the city clerk, respectively, shall endorse on...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Names drawn at town meetings - Chapter 234, Section 22
If a town at a meeting votes that drafts for jurors shall be made in open town meeting, they shall be so made by the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Meetings for drawing jurors - Chapter 234, Section 23
The meeting for drawing jurors shall, unless the court otherwise orders when issuing venires for additional jurors under section twelve, be not less than twenty...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Summoning jurors; return of venire - Chapter 234, Section 24
The deputy sheriff or constable shall, fourteen days at least before the time when the jurors are required to attend unless the court otherwise orders...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Summoning jurors; mail as alternative method; summons; questioning prohibited - Chapter 234, Section 24A
In addition to the manner of summoning jurors as provided in section twenty-four, jurors may be summoned in the following manner:—at least twenty days prior...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Juror information form; return - Chapter 234, Section 24B
The commissioner of probation shall prepare a juror information form which may be enclosed together with a self-addressed return envelope with a juror summons described...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Impanelling - Chapter 234, Section 25
On the day when jurors are summoned to attend at court for the trial of civil or criminal cases, except capital cases, the clerk of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Capital cases; impanelling jury - Chapter 234, Section 26
If a jury is to be impanelled for the trial of a capital case, the clerk of the court shall cause the name of each...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 9 - Chapter 234, Section 26A
Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Protracted trials; impanelling jurors; verdicts - Chapter 234, Section 26B
In a civil or criminal case, including a capital case, to be tried with a jury in the superior court, which trial, in the opinion...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Talesmen - Chapter 234, Section 27
If, by challenge or otherwise, a sufficient number of jurors duly drawn and summoned cannot be obtained for the trial of a case, the court...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Examination of jurors - Chapter 234, Section 28
Upon motion of either party, the court shall, or the parties or their attorneys may under the direction of the court, examine on oath a...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Peremptory challenges - Chapter 234, Section 29
In a civil case each party shall be entitled to four peremptory challenges. Such challenges shall be made before the commencement of the trial and...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Certain interest not to disqualify - Chapter 234, Section 30
In indictments and penal actions for the recovery of a forfeiture, it shall not be a cause of challenge to a juror that he is...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec. 11 - Chapter 234, Section 31
Repealed, 1979, 344, Sec.
- Massachusetts General Laws - Irregularities - Chapter 234, Section 32
No irregularity in a writ of venire facias or in the drawing, summoning, returning or impanelling of jurors shall be sufficient to set aside a...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Gratuities - Chapter 234, Section 33
If either party to a case at the sitting at which a verdict is returned, either before or after the trial, gives to any of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Failure of jury to agree - Chapter 234, Section 34
If a jury, after due and thorough deliberation, return to court without having agreed on a verdict, the court may state anew the evidence or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Number of jurors required to render verdicts; instructions on sufficient number - Chapter 234, Section 34A
In any civil action the jury shall be instructed that the agreement of five sixths of its members shall be sufficient to render any special...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Death, illness or other inability of jurors to perform duty; number required for trial; vacancies - Chapter 234, Section 34B
In any civil action where twelve jurors or more are impaneled, if a juror dies, or becomes ill, or is otherwise unable to perform his...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Smoking in jury rooms - Chapter 234, Section 34C
(1) As used in this section, “smoking” shall mean the lighting of any cigar, cigarette, pipe or tobacco product or having possession of any lighted...
- Massachusetts General Laws - View by jury - Chapter 234, Section 35
The court may, upon motion, allow the jury in a civil case to view the premises or place in question or any property, matter or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Neglecting to attend - Chapter 234, Section 36
A person duly drawn and summoned as a juror in a court who neglects to attend without sufficient cause shall be punished by a fine...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Improperly putting name on jury list - Chapter 234, Section 37
Whoever, being a registrar of voters, a selectman or an election commissioner, shall put or cause to be put upon the jury list the name...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Soliciting the placement of name on jury list - Chapter 234, Section 38
Whoever solicits or requests a registrar of voters, a selectman or an election commissioner to put his or any other name upon a jury list...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Neglect of officers, etc. - Chapter 234, Section 39
If, by reason of the neglect of a person upon whom any duty is imposed by this chapter, jurors are not duly drawn and summoned...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Penalties in certain other cases - Chapter 234, Section 40
If such neglect occurs with regard to jurors required to serve on any occasion other than in the supreme judicial or superior court, the officer...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Fraud in drawing jurors - Chapter 234, Section 41
Whoever is guilty of fraud in the drawing of jurors, either by tampering with the jury box previous to a draft or in drawing a...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Special juries; effect of chapter - Chapter 234, Section 42
This chapter shall not affect the power and duty of any officer or magistrate to summon and impanel jurors when otherwise authorized.
Last modified: September 11, 2015