Drawing and examination of jurors; administration of oath or affirmation.
1. Except when the jurors are drawn by a jury commissioner, in preparing for the selection of the jury, the clerk, under the direction of the judge, shall place in a box ballots containing the names of the persons summoned who have appeared and have not been excused. The clerk shall mix the ballots and draw from the box the number of names needed to complete the jury in accordance with the procedure provided either in subsection 3 or subsection 4, as the judge directs.
2. Whenever the jurors are drawn by the jury commissioner, the judge may also direct him to draw, in advance, the names of additional jurors in the order they would be used to replace discharged or excused jurors pursuant to subsections 3 and 4.
3. The judge may require that eight names be drawn, and the persons whose names are called must be examined as to their qualifications to serve as jurors. If any persons are excused or discharged, or if the ballots are exhausted before the jury is selected, additional names shall be drawn from the jury box and those persons summoned and examined as provided by law until the jury is selected.
4. The judge may require that the clerk draw a number of names to form a panel of prospective jurors equal to the sum of the number of regular jurors and alternate jurors to be selected and the number of peremptory challenges to be exercised. The persons whose names are called must be examined as to their qualifications to serve as jurors. If any persons on the panel are excused for cause, they must be replaced by additional persons who must also be examined as to their qualifications. The jury must consist of eight persons, unless the parties consent to a lesser number. The parties may consent to any number not less than four. This consent must be entered by the clerk in the minutes of the trial. When a sufficient number of prospective jurors has been qualified to complete the panel, each side shall exercise its peremptory challenges out of the hearing of the panel by alternately striking names from the list of persons on the panel. After the peremptory challenges have been exercised, the persons remaining on the panel who are needed to complete the jury shall, in the order in which their names were drawn, be regular jurors or alternate jurors.
5. Before persons whose names have been drawn are examined as to their qualifications to serve as jurors, the judge or his clerk shall administer an oath or affirmation to them in substantially the following form:
Do you, and each of you, (solemnly swear, or affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury) that you will well and truly answer all questions put to you touching upon your qualifications to serve as jurors in the case now pending before this court (so help you God)?
6. The judge shall conduct the initial examination of prospective jurors and the parties or their attorneys are entitled to conduct supplemental examinations which must not be unreasonably restricted.
Last modified: February 26, 2006