Jury Service Information

Jury Assembly Room Directions


  • Enter the Justice Center through the Market Street Entrance
  • Take the elevator to the 5th Floor
  • Make a left and go down the long hallway to the Jury Assembly Room, Suite 5325

Jury Service Hours


The normal business hours are 8:30am-4:30pm, however you may be required to report at a different time. The phone call-in system will advise you of the specific time to report if your services are required. If you are seated on a trial, you may serve later than 4:30pm. Breaks and a minimum of an hour for lunch will be provided.

Length of Jury Service


If you are selected to serve as a trial juror, your jury service will be for the length of that trial. Most trials take between one to five days to complete. Because of this do not make any appointments or commitments that would interfere with you serving on a trial that may take up to five days to complete. If you are NOT selected as a trial juror, your length of service will be 2 days.

People in the Courtroom


A number of people will be in the courtroom in addition to the judge, the jury, and the attorneys. These people include the following:
  • Plaintiff - person who filed a civil suit.
  • Defendant - the defendant in a civil case is the person being sued and in a criminal case is the person who has been charged with a crime.
  • Attorneys or Counsel - Attorneys representing the plaintiff, defendant, or the government in a criminal case are also referred to as counsel. Depending on who they represent and what court you may be in, you may hear them called counsel for the plaintiff, plaintiff's attorney, counsel for the defendant, or defense attorney. An attorney representing the government in a criminal case is called the district attorney, the prosecuting attorney or the Commonwealth's attorney.
  • Court Reporter - keeps the official record by recording every word spoken during the trial.
  • Tipstaff - the tipstaff's responsibility is to maintain order in the court and follow the instructions from the judge to attend to the jury.
  • Deputy Sheriff - provides security in the courtroom.
  • Clerk - responsible for all documents and physical evidence that are entered into the trial and for the swearing in of the jury and all witnesses.
  • Witnesses - each side in a trial will probably have a number of witnesses who have information about the dispute

Reporting for Jury Service


Unless otherwise directed by your summons or the phone-in procedure, persons selected for Jury Service are to report to the Jury Assembly Room (Suite 5325) on the 5th Floor of the of the Chester County Justice Center.

When jurors report, they are greeted by court personnel and given badges with their juror number and asked to be seated until jury orientation commences. During the jury orientation video, the names of those individuals present are identified and entered into the computer system for random selection to juror panels. The jury staff then calls a name, waits for a response and assigns the juror a seat. When the process is complete, the panel is escorted to the courtroom for the selection process know as "voir dire".

Prospective jurors not selected are returned to the Jury Assembly Room for possible assignment to other panels. At the end of two days, those not selected as jurors or not specifically asked to return (when voir dire extends beyond the 2nd day) are dismissed. Those selected to serve on a jury are dismissed at the end of the trial.