Protect yourself against identity theft. Never give out personal information when you receive an unsolicited phone call.

As a rule, jury officers never ask for confidential information over the phone. Jury staff members generally correspond with prospective jurors via mail or email. There are certain situations such as, a Junior and Senior live at the same address and the summons does not specify which one that more information may be required.

Sample Scenario: You answer the ringing phone. The caller identifies himself/herself as an officer of the court. The caller states you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. The caller says no problem, it can be cleared up right now, but more information will be needed for “verification purposes” — your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number. Or the caller might say that if you give him/her that info to pay a “small fine,” the warrant will be dropped.

You should hang up the phone and report the call to law enforcement, as it is a scam.

The United States Constitution and the New Mexico State Constitution guarantee the right to trial by jury. Failure to attend as directed may subject you to penalties provided by law.  All residents are obligated by state law to serve as a juror unless they:

• Are NOT a United States citizen; 
• Are UNDER 18 years of age;
• Have been found incompetent by a court of law.

The Court realizes prospective jurors may have been summonsed at an inconvenient time and is willing to defer service to a more convenient time in most instances. Jurors may request a one-time postponement for of their service by completing the appropriate section of the summons and returning it to the Jury Management Division. All requests for postponement must be in writing and either e-mailed, mailed, faxed or hand-delivered to the Jury Management Division for review. New Mexico Law does not allow a second postponement unless it is an extreme emergency that was not anticipated when the first postponement was granted.

No. All excuse requests must be in writing and either e-mailed, mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered to the Jury Management Division for review.

The law automatically disqualifies non-citizens and individuals under 18 years of age from jury service. If you are not a United States Citizen you will need to provide a copy of your residency card along with the completed Jury Qualification form to the Jury Management Division. If you are under 18 years of age, you should provide a driver’s license or some form of documentation of your date of birth.

Combining the County’s voter registration list, Motor Vehicle and Personal Income Taxes, creates the list of names that is used to call people for jury service. Names are randomly selected from that master list by a computer program.

A computer program randomly selects names from the master jury file to summons potential jurors. Since that process is random, some people may be selected more than others. If you served on an actual jury trial or grand jury within the last 36 months, you can request to be excused.

The Jury Management Division adheres to the random selection process set out in the law. Because it is random, some people who are willing to serve may never be summonsed, and others who are not willing to be served may be summonsed more than once. No one can take the place of the individual who was summonsed for jury duty.

State law requires that jurors be selected randomly from the countywide population. You must appear at the court to which you were summonsed.

Convicted felons can serve on juries as long as all of the requirements set forth by the conviction have been completed, that is, as long as all terms of probation, incarceration, and parole have been completed.

The Court is authorized by New Mexico State statute to pay you $6.25 per hour. State government employees are paid by the State and therefore do not receive the hourly jury wage. Please be sure to indicate on your questionnaire if you are an employee of a State government entity.

Other individuals should check with your employer regarding its internal jury service and payment policy. Employers are not required by law to reimburse employees for jury service.

In addition, round trip mileage from your home to the courthouse will be paid at $0.29 a mile. Payment is computed based upon the information you provide on the juror qualification form and your physical address. Please be sure to indicate your physical address, along with your zip code, on the form you return. If you do not want to claim mileage, please indicate so on your questionnaire.

Checks will be mailed to your home address. Your payment cannot be split between hourly and mileage reimbursement. On average, reimbursement payments take 6 weeks to process. If payment is not received within 10 weeks of Jury Service, please contact the Jury Division at 505-455-8225.

Employers may verify their employee’s jury duty times with the Jury Management Division. The Jury Management Division will disclose if you reported, what time you reported, and what time you were released. The Jury Management Division or the presiding judge’s bailiff will provide you with an attendance letter for your employer each time you report to ensure that there are no discrepancies.

The First Judicial District Court operates on a 90-day term of service. However, you likely will not have to report every week. On average, an individual only has to actually appear at the courthouse for selection on three occasions. During the 90-day term, you will call in every week after 4 p.m., to receive instructions as to whether you have to report the following week or if you have to call in again at the beginning of the following week for further instructions. Due to the possibility that a jury selection may be cancelled, changed or added, you are required to call the information line or check the web site every Friday after 4 p.m. Failure to do so may result in you failing to appear for a scheduled selection or unnecessarily appearing.

There is a possibility that you will be selected for a jury trial that extends past the end of the 90-day term.

The court’s normal hours of operation are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Prospective jurors should make arrangements to remain the entire day, as well as into the evening on some occasions. Judges make every effort to end the day’s trial activities by 5 p.m., but there are sometimes circumstances when extending activities into the evening hours is unavoidable. On rare occasion, jurors may be asked to appear on weekends. Judges will let you know with as much advance notice as possible when such situations arise.

Do not throw it away. Write “DECEASED” on the forms, attach a copy of the death certificate, and mail the entire packet back to the Jury Management Division.

We sincerely apologize if this ever occurs and in no way mean to be insensitive or to cause anyone to feel further grief. The master list of potential jurors is crossed-referenced with Vital Statistics. However, on occasion a summons is mailed to an individual who is deceased.

Do not throw it away. Write “MOVED” and the new address of the individual summonsed on the forms and attach proof of the new address. Return the entire packet back to the Jury Management Division. If you do not have proof of the new address, the individual should provide it or he or she will be contacted to provide such proof.

You recently received a summons to report for jury duty. In addition, you received a jury qualification form and a jury questionnaire. Those forms are to be filled out in their entirety and returned to the Jury Management Division by a date specified on your summons.  If you have lost or misplaced the jury qualification form and/or the jury questionnaire you can reproduce a generic copy of the forms below. You are not able to reproduce the actual summons you received in the mail.

• Jury Qualification Form
• Jury Questionnaire
• Affidavit of Non Resident

Please remember all of the forms must be completed in their entirety. Incomplete forms will not be accepted and will cause a delay.

If you recently received a summons and you are seventy-five (75) years of age or older and wish to be excused, you may file an affidavit requesting an exemption from jury service. If you file an age affidavit, you will be permanently exempted from jury service, per the enactment of Senate Bill 112, which amended Section 38-5-2 (B) NMSA 1978.  

You are required to complete both the juror qualification form and the age affidavit, have the age affidavit notarized, and return both forms to the Jury Management Division by the date specified on the summons for returning the questionnaire.

• Age Affidavit  

Please remember all of the forms must be completed in their entirety. Incomplete forms will not be accepted and will cause a delay.

The call to serve on a jury does not frequently come, and such an opportunity may never be repeated during your lifetime. Jury service is an obligation of citizenship. It represents your contribution to our democratic way of life. The sacrifice it compels-and for many of you it is a major sacrifice-enlarges the value of its rendition.

The United States Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution guarantee the right to trial by jury. All Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos County residents are obligated by state law to serve as a juror unless they are under the age of 18, not a citizen, found incompetent by a court of law or are no longer a resident of the county in which they were called. This site has been designed to help you answer any questions you may have regarding jury service.

However, this site does not allow you to disqualify, excuse, or request a postponement. Please refer to your summons for additional information and documents required.

Being on a jury is a rewarding experience, and your participation is appreciated.

Juror Exit Survey – Please take the time to fill out the survey. Your Feedback is greatly appreciated