Jury Service

Welcome to Jury Duty in La Crosse County!

The right to a trial by jury is the cornerstone of our country’s justice system. As a juror, you have a vital role to play in the administration of justice!

Have questions? This purpose of this website is to answer some of the most common questions asked.  If you cannot find the answers to your questions here, please feel free to contact us.

• Amenities
• Contact the Jury Coordinator
• Employment Issues and Verification
• Excusal from Jury Service
• General Information
• Illness or Emergency
• Inclement Weather
• Juror Compensation
• Juror Selection
• Parking and Courthouse Location
• Postponement or Deferment of Jury Service
• Reporting for Jury Service
• Special Accommodations
• Term/Length of Jury Service
• What to Wear/Bring/Not to Bring to Court
• Other Links

Amenities

Wi-Fi access is available in the Jury Assembly area.

Amenities in the Jury Assembly Area include: magazines. complimentary coffee, water, and soda.

There are refrigerators located in the Jury Deliberation Rooms for bag lunches or medication if needed.

Contact the Jury Coordinator

La Crosse County Jury Coordinator

La Crosse County Courthouse Clerk of Courts – 1st Floor
333 Vine Street – Room 1200
La Crosse WI 54601

Phone: 608-785-9690

Fax: 608-789-7821

Email: [email protected]

Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am – 4:30pm

Juror Recording #: 608-785-9933

Jury service is a civic duty. State law protects your job. Your employer cannot fire you, demote you, threaten or intimidate you because of jury service. Employers are required to grant an employee a leave of absence for jury service per Wisconsin Statute §756.255. As soon as a juror receives a summons for jury duty, he or she should inform their employer of the possibility of being selected and the need to be absent from work if selected to serve on jury duty.

At the completion of jury service, the Jury Coordinator/Bailiffs will provide to any juror who requests it, a signed verification of jury service that identifies the date(s) of jury service and whether the service was for a full or half day.

State law currently does not require employers to continue paying the salary of employees who are absent because of jury service. Many employers, however, including state, federal and many local governmental agencies, have a policy of compensating employees for at least part, if not all, of the time spent in jury service. Employers and businesses are encouraged to support the jury system by paying employees while they are serving as jurors. If employers do pay their employees during jury service, they have the right to require employees to remit the per diem (excluding mileage) they received for jury service.

An employer shall grant an employee a leave of absence without loss of time for the period of jury service. For the purpose of determining seniority or pay advancement, the status of the employee shall be considered uninterrupted by the jury service. No employer may use absence due to jury service as a basis for discharging an employee or for taking any disciplinary action against an employee.

An employer who discharges or disciplines an employee may be fined not more than $200 and may be required to make full restitution to the aggrieved employee, including reinstatement and back pay.

The jury coordinator has limited authority to excuse a juror permanently. At this time, only an excusal for medical reason is allowed.

If you have a medical condition, which prevents you from serving, a written excuse from your doctor is required. Medical requests may be faxed to the Jury Coordinator at 608-789-7821, or mailed to:

Jury Coordinator
333 Vine Street
La Crosse, WI 54601

Jurors will receive notification by phone or mail of the status of their request.

If a juror is unable to report for jury duty due to illness or emergency, the juror should call the Jury Coordinator at 608-785-9690 as soon as possible. Please leave the Juror’s name, the nature of the illness or emergency, and a phone number where you can be reached. The Jury Coordinator will return the call either later that day or the following day regarding rescheduling of jury duty.

In the case of Inclement Weather, call the Jury Recording at 608-785-9933 for information on the status of scheduled trials and jury service.

The courts seldom close due to weather.

Jurors are paid $25.00 per full day, $12.50 per half day, and $0.575 per mile round-trip to the courthouse, for each day you are required to report. The amount paid to jurors is established by resolution of the County Board of Supervisors.

Trial by jury is a cherished constitutional right. No person who is qualified and able to serve may be excluded on the basis of sex, race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religion, national origin, marital status, family status, income, age, ancestry, or physical condition.

To be eligible to serve as a juror in La Crosse County Circuit Court, the following conditions must be met:

You must be at least 18 years of age

You must be a United States citizen

You must understand the English language

You must be a La Crosse County Resident

You have not been summoned for jury duty for at least 4 years

If you have been convicted of a felony, you must have had your civil rights restored. Your civil rights are automatically restored upon successful completion of your sentence including any probation.

A person selected for jury service is selected at random from a master list using the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s list of people with motor vehicle licenses or identification cards who live in La Crosse County. Jurors are not selected from voter lists.

The Clerk of Circuit Court contracts with the City of La Crosse to provide free parking to Jurors in the Pine Street Parking Ramp on 3^rd and Pine Street.   

All you need to do before coming into the courthouse is write down your license plate number on the parking information sheet provided when you received your jury summons in the mail. Please bring in the yellow sheet with your license plate number and your name with you to the jury assembly room and give it to the jury clerk.  You DO NOT need to stop at the parking ramp pay station. Once you have checked in at jury assembly, court staff will input your license plate number into the parking ramp computer system. 

Jurors with Disabled License Plates, Disabled Veteran License Plates, or Disabled Parking Identification Cards are welcome to use them in accordance with their restrictions.

The La Crosse County Courthouse is located at:

333 Vine Street – La Crosse

Directions to Courthouse

Juror parking

back to top

If, when you receive your jury summons, you find that the date of your term of service is inconvenient, you may have your jury service deferred to a different date. Contact the jury coordinator in writing or online within 2 weeks of receiving the summons and we will assign you to a term of jury service that is more convenient to your schedule, generally within 2 months. Jurors are allowed only one deferral.

You can request a Juror Postponement Request Online at www.wicourts.gov.

Written requests may be faxed to the Jury Coordinator at 608-789-7821, or mailed to:

Jury Coordinator
333 Vine Street
La Crosse WI 54601

All Jurors who submit a request will receive notification, by mail, phone call, or e-mail of the status of their request.

As a juror in La Crosse County, you are “on call” for your term of service. La Crosse County uses a juror recording system to inform jurors if it is necessary to actually appear on the date that appears on the summons. It is your responsibility to call the recorded message starting the Friday evening before you are scheduled to report for your jury service.

To determine when to report for jury service, you must call the Jury Information line at 608-785-9933 after 5:00 p.m. on the night before you are scheduled to report for your jury service. You must call after 5 p.m. as the trial schedules often change at the last minute. Listen carefully to the entire recorded message and follow the instructions carefully. The message will tell you whether or not you should report. If required to appear, PLEASE BE ON TIME.

On the first day of service, jurors will report to the Jury Assembly Area located on the 1^st floor of the courthouse – located up the stairs and down the main hallway. The jury clerk and bailiffs will be available to greet you in the Jury Assembly. You will check in with the jury clerk by giving your name and also providing your parking information. 

If you are selected to serve on a jury trial that will last more than one day, you will meet in the jury assembly each morning.

back to top

It is the policy of the La Crosse County Circuit Courts that jury service must be accessible to all qualified individuals. No person will be refused participation solely because the person has a disability or needs an accommodation.

Please inform our bailiffs of your accommodation needs when you report for jury service. We will do our best to meet any reasonable accommodation that you may need. Accommodations can include elevators, assistive listening devices in the courtroom, providing refrigerator use for special medication or for specific meals.

If you require special accommodations or have a situation that is not addressed, please call the Jury Coordinator as soon as possible at 608-785-9690 to make necessary arrangements.

Under Wisconsin law, jurors are eligible for one week of service, or until the case they are serving on is over. In La Crosse County, each juror is ‘on-call’ for the day of their jury summons.

If you are selected for a jury trial, you will serve until the case is completed, which may be for more than one week. If you are not selected, you have completed your jury service for at least the next 4 years. Most trials last between one to two days and the Judge usually adjourns so that you can return each day at a reasonable hour.

back to top

Court proceedings, and especially Jury Trials, are important and serious matters. The way you dress should reflect this. There are usually no prescribed dress codes, but judges have been known to order people to reappear in appropriate attire.

Dress casual is recommended. Dress comfortably; SHORTS, TANK TOPS, AND HATS ARE NOT PERMITTED IN COURT.  Also, avoid extremes in dress; for instance, ragged cutoff jeans/T-shirts or clothing with inappropriate or offensive writing on them. Dressing in layers is recommended as the temperature in the jury assembly area and the courtroom can vary greatly.

What Should I Bring With Me?

After the orientation there may be a waiting period before a trial begins. Resolving legal disputes can be complex and unpredictable work. Often, cases are settled at the very last minute. These settlements may seem very inconvenient to you, but such settlements usually save time for all trial participants. We suggest that you bring something to read to occupy your time during this wait. The jury assembly area does have free Wi-Fi access available to jurors while they wait.

What Should I Avoid Bringing With Me?

The Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center are secure buildings. When entering these buildings you will be required to pass through security screening. The following items are NOT allowed inside the Law Enforcement Center or the Courthouse:

• Ammunition
• Box Cutters
• Bottle Openers/Cork Screws
• Drugs (Illegal)
• Nails (Construction)
• Guns
• Razors
• Chains including Belt Chains
• Explosives
• Tools
• Sharpened Objects
• Blades or Knives
• Scrapers
• Letter Openers
• Metal Bearings
• Pepper Spray
• Hair Picks or Knitting Needles
• Scissors
• Vaping Devices

back to top

Other Links

https://www.wicourts.gov/services/juror/index.htm

back to top