Jury Service

Guernsey County
Common Pleas Court

Guernsey County Courthouse 801 Wheeling Ave. Cambridge, Ohio 43725
Phone: (740) 432-9352

JUDGE_PADDEN_PIC

Daniel G. Padden

Jury Service

Serving on a jury is one of the oldest, most direct forms of citizenship participation in the judicial system. Serving on jury duty is mandatory if you are selected and are eligible to participate. Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

WHAT TO EXPECT

If you are summoned for jury service, you will receive a letter in the mail, which states what time you need to appear and a phone number to call the night before. There will be a message on an answering machine advising whether or not the trial will be going forward and what time to appear. In the event of an emergency that prevents you from appearing, you may leave a message on the machine advising the Court of the situation. Please, include your name and phone number.

PARKING

On the day you are to appear, you may park in the free public parking roped off for jurors in the lot behind the Courthouse. If there is not enough parking and you will need to park on the street and if you receive a parking ticket, bring the ticket to the Judge’s Office to be taken care of. Once inside the Courthouse, jurors are to go to the third floor where the Clerk to the Jury Commission will check you in at the Bailiff’s Desk located in the center of the third floor.

PAY

Jurors will receive $15 per day for jury service. Please remember that your employer is not required to pay you for days you miss due to jury service; however, you cannot be terminated or punished for missing work for jury service according to Ohio law. If this happens, immediately bring it to the attention of the Court.

DRESS

Please, no shorts, tank tops, flip flops or hats. We do the best we can to keep the courtroom at a comfortable temperature; however, we advise you to bring a sweater in case you get too cold.

SECURITY

The Courthouse is now a single access building. Jurors must enter at the bottom floor, East side of the Courthouse. There, a Sheriff’s deputy will have you go through a metal detector and empty your belongings into a basket to go through an x-ray machine to ensure your safety while you are at the Courthouse.  Please leave any pocketknives or anything that can be construed as a weapon at home.

EXCUSES

If you are requesting to be excused from jury duty, please contact us at (740) 432-9283 or email us at juryservice@guernseycounty.org. You will need to provide us with your name, phone number and reason you are requesting to be excused along with any documentation supporting your request (i.e. note from your doctor, school schedule, vacation itinerary) for the Judge to review.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Below, there are links for a blank jury questionnaire along with our Frequently Asked Questions. If you have been called for jury duty, you may fill out the questionnaire or, if you have lost your questionnaire, you can print a new one off and mail the completed form to us at Jury Commission, 801 Wheeling Avenue, Rm. E, Cambridge, OH 43725.

Frequently Asked Questions 
Download Jury Questionnaire Form here.

Contacts

Refer all questions to the Jury Commission at
(740) 432-9283  or Email us at: juryservice@guernseycounty.org

Please note if there is no answer, please leave a message.Due to the Court’s Docket the Jury Commissioner may be in the Courtroom and unable to answer your call immediately. The machine is checked daily.