JURY PLAN
U.S. DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT
OF MONTANA
September 1, 2025
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 3
General Matters .................................................................................................................... 3
Section 1.01 Authority .......................................................................................................... 3
Section 1.02 Application ....................................................................................................... 3
Section 1.03 Definitions ........................................................................................................ 3
Section 1.04 Policy ................................................................................................................ 4
Section 1.05 Discrimination Prohibited ................................................................................. 4
Section 1.06 Management Responsibilities ........................................................................... 4
Section 1.07 Delegation of the Clerk’s Management Responsibilities.................................. 5
Section 1.08 Jury Management Divisions (See 28 U.S.C. § 1869(e)). .................................. 6
Section 1.09 Emptying and Refilling the District and Divisional Master Jury Wheels ........ 7
Section 1.10 Method and Manner of the Random Selection of Jurors .................................. 7
Section 1.11 General Notice .................................................................................................. 9
Section 1.12 Protection of Jurors’ Employment .................................................................... 9
CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 10
Source Lists, Initial Random Selection, and the Master Jury Wheel ............................. 10
Section 2.01 Source Lists .................................................................................................... 10
Section 2.02 Size of the Master Jury Wheels..................................................................... 10
Section 2.03 Substantial Proportional Representation and the Master Jury Wheels .......... 11
Section 2.04 Filling the Master Jury Wheels ....................................................................... 11
CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 12
Drawing Names from the Master Jury Wheel, Juror Qualification, and the Qualified
Jury Wheel ........................................................................................................................... 12
Section 3.01 Drawing Names from the Master Jury Wheel ................................................ 12
Section 3.02 Juror Qualification Questionnaires ................................................................. 12
Section 3.03 Failure to Submit a Juror Qualification Questionnaire or Appear ................. 13
Section 3.04 Determining Juror Qualification Status .......................................................... 13
Section 3.05 Qualified Jury Wheel ...................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER FOUR................................................................................................................... 17
Selection of Grand and Petit Jurors .................................................................................. 17
Section 4.01 Selection and Empanelment of Grand and Petit Jurors.................................. 17
Section 4.02 Summoning Grand and/or Petit Jurors ........................................................... 17
Section 4.03 Disclosure of Petit Juror Information.............................................................. 17
Section 4.04 Grand Jury Impanelment (See 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(8)) ................................. 18
Section 4.05 Term of Regular Grand Jury ........................................................................... 19
Section 4.06 Term of Special Grand Jury ............................................................................ 19
Section 4.07 Management of Regular or Special Grand Jury .............................................. 20
Section 4.08 Alternate Grand Jurors .................................................................................... 20
Section 4.09 Disclosure of Grand Juror Information .......................................................... 20
CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................... 21
Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service ............................................................................. 21
Section 5.01 Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service .......................................................... 21
Section 5.02 Jury Service Limit ........................................................................................... 21
Section 5.03 Permanent Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service ........................................ 22
Section 5.04 Obligation to Serve and Failure to Comply .................................................... 22
CHAPTER SIX ....................................................................................................................... 23
Disclosure and Retention of Jury Selection Records ........................................................ 23
Section 6.01 Release of Jury Plan Information .................................................................... 23
Section 6.02 Release of Juror Records (See 28 U.S.C. § 1867(f)) ..................................... 23
Section 6.03 Retention of Juror Records ............................................................................. 23
Section 6.04 Request to Inspect Juror Records .................................................................. 23
CHAPTER SEVEN ............................................................................................................... 25
Approval of Jury Plan ..................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER ONE
General Matters
Section 1.01 Authority
This Jury Plan is adopted by the United States District Court for the
District of Montana in accordance with the provisions of the Jury
Selection and Service Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-274), as amended
and codified in 28 U.S.C.§ 1861 et seq.
Section 1.02 Application
This Jury Plan will take effect on September 1, 2025. The prior Jury
Plan will be superseded as of the effective date of this revised Plan. A
copy of the revised plan, as approved by the reviewing panel, will be
provided to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and
the Attorney General of the United States.
Section 1.03 Definitions
For purposes of this plan:
“Jury selection process” will be deemed to include all activities
associated with the master and qualified jury wheels relating to the
random selection, qualification, summoning, and service of grand and
petit jurors.
“Chief judge” means the chief judge of this district, or any
supervising judge appointed by the chief judge.
“Clerk” and “clerk of court” means the clerk of this district
court, any authorized deputy clerk, or any other person authorized by
the chief judge or by this plan to assist the clerk in the performance of
duties under this plan.
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Section 1.04 Policy
It is the policy of the court that all litigants in this court, entitled to trial
by jury, have the right to grand and petit juries selected at random from
a fair cross section of the community in the district or division wherein
the court convenes. It is also the policy of the court that all citizens in
the district have the opportunity to be considered for service on grand
and petit juries and have an obligation to serve as jurors when
summoned for that purpose.
Section 1.05 Discrimination Prohibited
No citizen will be excluded from service as a grand or petit juror on
account of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or economic status.
Section 1.06 Management Responsibilities
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(l), the clerk of court will
manage the jury selection process under the supervision and control of
the chief judge, or of such other judge of the district court as the chief
judge designates.
The court finds that electronic data processing methods can be
advantageously used for managing this plan. At the clerk’s option, after
consultation with the chief judge, a properly programmed electronic
data processing system or a combination system employing both
manual and electronic machine methods, may be used for all
randomized drawings and to perform other clerical and record-keeping
jury functions.
In the event of an emergency, computer malfunction, or any overt or
obvious deviation from this plan caused by automation, the clerk, with
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the approval of the chief judge, will manually, or by alternative
electronic methods, proceed from the last step correctly implemented to
manage the plan.
Section 1.07 Delegation of the Clerk’s Management Responsibilities
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. §§ 1863(b)(l) and 1869(a), the clerk of
court may delegate responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the
jury selection process to any authorized deputy clerk, or to any
authorized non-court person or agency.
The clerk may use the services of non-court personnel to assist in the
jury selection process. For purposes of this plan, the phrase “non-court
personnel” may include, but is not limited to:
(a) County or state officials, and their employees or agents, who are
responsible for custody and maintenance of the source lists
identified in Section 2.01 of this plan.
(b) Owners, employees, operators and/or agents of computer or data
processing centers, bar-coding facilities, mail handling centers,
document reproduction facilities, and optical scanning facilities,
and similar facilities whose services are requested or employed
by the clerk to support the jury selection process.
(c) Other non-court administrative or clerical persons whose
services are requested or employed by the clerk to select,
process, and/or mail the various documents and records
involved in the jury selection process.
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Section 1.08 -XU\0DQDJHPHQW'LYLVLRQV 6HH86& H
In order to facilitate the jury selection process, the clerk is directed to
align Montana’s counties into the following jury management divisions:
The Billings division, which consists of the following counties: Big
Horn, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Garfield, Golden Valley,
McCone, Mussellshell, Park, Petroleum, Powder River, Prairie,
Richland, Rosebud, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Treasure, Wheatland,
Wibaux, and Yellowstone.
The Butte/Helena division, which consists of the following counties:
Beaverhead, Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Gallatin, Jefferson, Lewis and
Clark, Madison, Meagher, Powell, and Silver Bow.
The Great Falls division, which consists of the following counties:
Blaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Daniels, Fergus, Glacier, Hill, Judith Basin,
Liberty, Phillips, Pondera, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Teton, Toole, and
Valley.
The Missoula division, which consists of the following counties:
Flathead, Granite, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli, and
Sanders.
A separate divisional master wheel will be maintained for each jury
management division. This plan applies to each of the divisional master
wheels, which comprise the master jury wheel for the district. Jurors
will be selected for service from a single jury management division for
petit juries or from any combination of jury management divisions for
grand juries as the chief judge may from time to time direct.
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Section 1.09 Emptying and Refilling the District and Divisional Master
Jury Wheels
The clerk of court will create and maintain a master jury wheel for each
of the jury management divisions within the district. In accordance
with 28 U.S.C.§ 1863(b)(4), the clerk is directed to empty and refill the
master jury wheels every two years. This process will coincide with the
schedule prescribed in M.C.A. § 3-15-403. When the master jury
wheels are emptied, the existing qualified jury wheel will continue to be
used until the clerk determines that an adequate number of persons from
the new master jury wheel have been qualified. The new master wheels
will be in use by September 1st of the year in which they are refilled.
When the new master wheels are placed in use, the old qualified jury
wheels will be emptied and new qualified jury wheels created.
Summoned jurors from previous qualified jury wheels may serve at the
same time with jurors selected from later qualified jury wheels. If
additional time is needed to empty and refill the master jury wheels,
permission must be obtained from the Chief Judge of the Circuit.
Section 1.10 Method and Manner of the Random Selection of Jurors
The randomized selection procedures set forth in this plan must ensure
that the names chosen will represent all segments of the source lists
from which drawn and that the mathematical odds of any single name
being picked are substantially equal.
(a) The selection of names from the complete source list databases
in electronic media for the master jury wheels may be
accomplished by a purely randomized process through a
properly programmed electronic data processing system.
Similarly, at the option of the clerk and after consultation with
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the chief judge, a properly programmed electronic data
processing system for purely randomized selection may be used
to select names from the master wheel for the purpose of
determining qualification for jury service, from the qualified
wheel for summoning persons to serve as grand or petit jurors,
from the pool of jurors to serve as a panel, and from the panel of
jurors to serve as a jury. Such random selections of names from
the source lists for inclusion in the master wheels by data
computer personnel must ensure that each county within the jury
management division is substantially proportionally represented
in the master jury wheel in accordance with 28 U.S.C. §
1863(b)(3). The purely randomized selection procedure may be
used for all drawings. (See Section 2.03 herein for the
procedures to ensure proper proportional county representation
in the divisional master jury wheels.).
E Manual Randomized Selection of Jury Panels and Petit
Juries After the jurors have been summoned, the clerk has the
option, after consultation with the chief judge, to randomly
select jurors manually for petit or grand jury panels and for petit
juries for specific cases by:
preserving the computer prepared random sequence of
the names of jurors summoned and assigning jurors to
panels in the order listed; or preserving the computer
prepared random sequence of the names of jurors
impaneled and assigning jurors to petit juries in the order
listed; or
drawing names at random from a box, jury wheel, or
similar container containing the names of the present
pool or panel of jurors.
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Section 1.11 General Notice
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1864(a), the clerk will post a general
notice for public review in the clerk’s office and on the court’s public
website explaining the process by which names are periodically and
randomly drawn from the source list and the master and qualified
wheels.
Section 1.12 Protection of Jurors’ Employment
No employer can discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce
any permanent employee over such employee’s jury service, or the
attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such jury service.
Any employer who violates the provisions of this section will be subject
to penalties specified by 28 U.S.C. § 1875.
Section 1.13 Modifications
This plan will be reviewed every other year by the court prior to each
refill of the master wheels. Modifications to this plan may be made
from time to time by this court, upon approval of the Ninth Circuit
Reviewing Panel of the Judicial Council and must be made when so
directed by the reviewing panel.
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CHAPTER TWO
Source Lists, Initial Random Selection, and the Master Jury Wheel
Section 2.01 Source Lists (See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1861 and 1863(b)(2) and (3))
The court finds that sources from which the names of grand and petit
jurors will be selected at random are the lists of general election
registered voters, licensed drivers and state identification card holders.
These sources lists will be merged, eliminating all known duplicate
names and the names of anyone under the age of 18. The court takes
notice that when two or more source lists are used, one person’s name
may appear more than once. The clerk, must, either manually or
through automated systems, eliminate as reasonably as possible such
duplicates before any selection procedures begin. The court further
finds that such lists, as described above, represent a fair cross section of
the citizens residing within the communities in the District of Montana.
Section 2.02 Size of the Master Jury Wheels (See 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(4))
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(4), the minimum number of names to
be placed in the master jury wheel, at the time of creation, will be at
least one-half of 1% of the total number of names on all county merged
lists, provided that if this number is determined by the chief judge to be
cumbersome and unnecessary, the chief judge may determine a smaller
number of names to be placed in the master jury wheel, but in no event
may the number be less than 1,000. Any district or magistrate judge of
the district may order additional names to be placed in a master jury
wheel from time to time, as necessary and in accordance with the
formula above described.
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Section 2.03 Substantial Proportional Representation and the Master Jury
Wheels
When selecting names from the combined source lists, specific and
detailed procedures will be followed to ensure the random selection of a
fair cross section of the persons residing in the community in the jury
management division where the court convenes. Such random selection
of names from the combined source lists for inclusion in the master
wheel will be designed to ensure that each county within the jury
management division is substantially proportionately represented in the
master jury wheels.
Section 2.04 Filling the Master Jury Wheels
Once the names for each county have been randomly selected, the clerk
will combine and randomly sort all jury management division names
and enter them into the master jury wheel for the appropriate jury
management divisions.
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CHAPTER THREE
Drawing Names from the Master Jury Wheel, Juror Qualification, and the
Qualified Jury Wheel
Section 3.01 Drawing Names from the Master Jury Wheel
From time to time as directed by the chief judge, the clerk must draw at
random from the master jury wheel of each jury management division,
the names of as many persons as may be required for jury service in
each jury management division.
Section 3.02 Juror Qualification Questionnaires
Upon completion of a master jury wheel for each jury management
division in the district, the clerk or approved designated mailing service
will prepare and serve by manual or electronic means to persons
randomly selected pursuant to Section 3.01 of this plan a juror
qualification form accompanied by instructions. Potential jurors are
required to execute and return the questionnaire, duly signed and sworn,
to the clerk, by mail or electronic means, within ten days in accordance
with the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1864. The clerk will maintain a
record of all juror qualification questionnaires returned, including those
returned by the post office as undeliverable. Insofar as feasible, the
clerk will investigate forms which are not returned or not delivered and
locate and encourage the addressees to complete and return the forms.
Should the clerk be unable to locate the addressee, the clerk may draw
at random from the master wheel of each jury management division a
replacement juror from the same zip code as the initial addressee.
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Section 3.03 Failure to Submit a Juror Qualification Questionnaire or Appear
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1864(a), if a person fails to submit a completed
juror qualification questionnaire, the clerk may issue a summons to the
person directing them to appear in the clerk’s office to complete the
qualification questionnaire. No juror fees or costs for this appearance
will be paid, unless otherwise ordered by the court. 28 U.S.C § 1864(b)
lists the penalties that may be imposed by the court.
Section 3.04 Determining Juror Qualification Status
The chief judge or other judge(s) designated by the chief judge to
consider juror excuse requests, on his or her initiative or upon
recommendation of the clerk, or the clerk under supervision of the
court, will determine solely on the basis of information provided on the
juror qualification form and other competent evidence whether a person
is unqualified, or exempt, or to be excused from jury service. The clerk
must enter such determination on the questionnaire or in the jury
management database.
(a) Disqualification from Jury Service
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1865(b), any person will be
deemed qualified to serve on grand and petit juries in this district
unless such person:
(1) is not a citizen of the United States, is less than 18 years
old, or has not resided for a period of one year within the
judicial district;
(2) is unable to read, write, and understand the English
language with a degree of proficiency sufficient to
satisfactorily fill out the juror qualification questionnaire;
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(3) is unable to speak the English language;
(4) is incapable, by reason of mental or physical infirm, to
render satisfactory jury service; or
(5) has a charge pending against him for the commission of,
or has been convicted in a state or federal court of record
of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than
one year and his civil rights have not been restored.
(b) Exemption from Jury Service
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(6), the following
persons are barred from jury service on the grounds that they are
exempt:
(1) full-time members in active service in the armed forces of
the United States;
(2) full-time members of any government police or regular
fire department (not including volunteer or non-
governmental); and
(3) full-time public officers in the executive, legislative, or
judicial branches of the government of the United States,
or any state, local or tribal governments who are actively
engaged in the performance of their official duties. A
“public officer” means a person who is elected to public
office or who is directly appointed by a person elected to
public officer.
(c) Excuses from Jury Service on Individual Request
(1) In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(5)(A) and (B),
the court finds that jury service by members of the
following occupational classes or groups of persons
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would entail undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to
the members thereof, and the excuse of such members
would not be inconsistent with §§ 1861 and 1862 of 28
U.S.C., and will be granted upon individual request to
those:
(A) persons over 75 years of age at the time of the
completion of the juror qualification
questionnaire form or at the time of being called
to serve;
(B) persons having sole active care and custody of a
minor, or an aged or infirm person, whose health
and/or safety would be jeopardized by their
absence for jury service;
(C) persons serving a public agency, without
compensation, as volunteer safety personnel
(such as firefighters or members of a rescue
squad or ambulance crew); and
(D) persons who have served as grand or petit jurors in
federal court in the District of Montana within the
past two years.
(2) Upon application showing undue hardship or extreme
inconvenience, any qualified juror may be excused from jury
service for such period as the clerk deems necessary. Unless
otherwise directed by the court, those individuals excused from
jury service under this section, will be deferred for possible
future selection within the current jury wheel.
(3) The court hereby finds that there is no distance, either in
miles or travel time, from any point within the district which, by
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itself, would constitute undue hardship for prospective jurors to
travel to places of holding court.
Section 3.05 Qualified Jury Wheel
The clerk must maintain a separate qualified jury wheel for each jury
management division within the district and will place in such wheels
the names of all persons randomly selected from their respective master
jury wheel who are determined to be qualified to serve as jurors and are
not exempt or excused from service pursuant to this plan.
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CHAPTER FOUR
Selection of Grand and Petit Jurors
Section 4.01 Selection and Empanelment of Grand and Petit Jurors (See 28
U.S.C. § 1866(a))
The clerk will draw at random from the qualified jury wheels the names
of as many persons as may be required for assignment to grand and petit
jury panels in the district. (See Section 1.10 herein for random selection
procedures.). Regardless of the case venue, a petit jury panel will be
drawn from the wheel of the jury management division in which the trial
is held unless the presiding judge orders otherwise.
Section 4.02 Summoning Grand and/or Petit Jurors (See 28 U.S.C. § 1866(b))
The clerk will issue summonses directed to the persons whose names
are drawn and serve them either by first class mail pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1866(b), by use of any of the alternate service methods
outlined therein, or by electronic communications.
Section 4.03 Disclosure of Petit Juror Information
(a) To Attorneys and Parties: The clerk will prepare a separate
list of names of persons assigned to each petit jury panel. The
office of the clerk will make available to the parties the names
of prospective jurors called from the petit jury list for that trial,
excluding their social security numbers and addresses. The
clerk's office will also provide to the parties updated
information regarding the jury list as it becomes available.
Notwithstanding this general policy, any trial judge may order
the clerk to keep jurors’ names confidential until the morning
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of trial in any case where the interests of justice so require.
Following the conclusion of a case for which a petit jury has
been summoned, the clerk will not disclose the names of the
panel members to the parties absent written permission from
the trial judge.
(b) To the Public and the Media: The names of prospective and
sitting petit jurors will not be distributed to the public and
media unless the requesting party has petitioned the trial judge
and received written permission to obtain the names of the
panel members.
Section 4.04 Grand Jury Impanelment (See 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(8))
When the court orders a grand jury to be impaneled, the clerk will
randomly draw from the qualified jury wheels a sufficient number of
names from which 23 grand jurors plus alternates can be selected. The
impanelment of every grand jury or special grand jury will not be
conducted in open court or within public view.
(a) Divisional Grand Juries: In selecting names for a grand jury
to serve in the Billings division, a proportionate share of names
will be drawn from the qualified jury wheel of the Billings
division in accordance with the random selection method
described in this plan.
In selecting names for a grand jury to serve in the Great Falls
division, a proportionate share of names will be drawn from the
qualified jury wheel of the Great Falls jury management
division in accordance with the random selection method
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described in this plan.
In selecting names for a grand jury to serve in the Missoula
division, a proportionate share of names will be drawn from the
qualified jury wheels of the Missoula jury management division
and the Butte/Helena jury management division in accordance
with the random selection method described in this plan. The
proportionate share will be based on the total number of
persons in the merged source list of each jury management
division as compared to the total number of persons on the
merged source list of the Missoula jury management division
and the Butte/Helena jury management division.
Section 4.05 Term of Regular Grand Jury
Each grand jury will serve until discharged by the chief judge, but no
regular grand jury will serve more than 18 months unless the court
extends the service of the grand jury upon a determination that such
extension is in the public interest, in accordance with Rule 6(g) of the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Section 4.06 Term of Special Grand Jury
Each grand jury will serve until discharged by the judge, but no special
grand jury will serve more than 18 months unless the court extends the
service of the grand jury upon a determination that such extension is in
the public interest, in accordance with Rule 6(g) of the Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure.
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Section 4.07 Management of Regular or Special Grand Jury
It will be the responsibility of the foreperson to ensure that at each
session, there is a sufficient number of grand jurors in attendance to
constitute a quorum.
Section 4.08 Alternate Grand Jurors
The grand jury will consist of 23 jurors whose names have been
randomly drawn by the clerk from the total number of those who
appeared and have not been excused. The remaining names drawn will
be alternate jurors.
The jurors not impaneled will be dismissed.
Section 4.09 Disclosure of Grand Juror Information (See 28 U.S.C. §
1863(b)(7))
Except as authorized by written order of the court, the names and
information relating to any summoned or serving grand juror or grand
jury panel will be confidential and not disclosed to any litigant or
member of the public. Applications for disclosure of grand juror
information must be made by motion and must set forth why
disclosure should be allowed.
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CHAPTER FIVE
Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service
Section 5.01 Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service
Except as provided elsewhere in this plan, no person or class of persons
will be disqualified, excluded, excused, or exempted from service as
jurors; provided, however, that any person summoned for jury service
may be:
(a) excluded by the court on the grounds that such person may be
unable to render impartial jury service or that his service as a
juror would be likely to disrupt the proceedings;
(b) excluded upon peremptory challenge as provided by law;
(c) excluded pursuant to the procedure specified by law upon a
challenge by any party for good cause shown;
(d) excluded upon determination of the court, after hearing in open
court, that service as a juror would be likely to threaten the
secrecy of the proceedings, or otherwise adversely affect the
integrity of jury deliberations, and that exclusion of such person
will not be inconsistent with the policy stated in 28 U.S.C. §§
1861 and 1862.
Section 5.02 Jury Service Limit
In any two (2) year period, no person will be required to:
(a) serve or attend court for prospective service as a petit juror for a
total of more than thirty (30) days, except when necessary to
complete service in a particular case, or
(b) serve on more than one grand jury, or
(c) serve as both a grand and petit juror.
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Section 5.03 Permanent Exclusion or Excuse from Jury Service
A juror who has served as a trial juror will be removed from the qualified
jury wheel and will not be subject to recall during the term of that wheel.
However, the court may, in its discretion, grant the request of any trial
juror who wishes to remain on the qualified wheel, subject to random
selection.
Section 5.04 Obligation to Serve and Failure to Comply
Every qualified person summoned for jury service will be obligated to
serve unless excused by a judge or the clerk. Any person summoned for
jury service who fails to appear as directed, to the extent the juror can
be located, may be ordered to appear and show cause for his/her failure
to comply with the summons. A juror who fails to show good cause
may be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than
three days, or both pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1864(b) and 1866(g).
Additionally a juror who has been assigned to a case, sworn or
affirmed, and who fails to appear at any session of court, will be
ordered to appear forthwith and show cause for the failure to appear.
The trial judge may also order that pay and reimbursement owed to the
juror for prior service be applied against any fine assessed.
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CHAPTER SIX
Disclosure and Retention of Jury Selection Records
Section 6.01 Release of Jury Plan Information
A copy of this Jury Plan will be posted to the court’s public website.
All other requests for information about the jury selection process must
be submitted in writing to the clerk of court, who will confer with the
chief judge prior to releasing any information.
Section 6.02 Release of Juror Records 6HH86& I
The contents of records and papers used in the jury selection process
will not be disclosed, except upon written order of the court.
Applications for disclosure of records related to the jury selection
process must be made by motion to the chief judge and must set forth
why disclosure should be allowed.
Section 6.03 Retention of Juror Records
In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1868, the clerk will keep all records and
papers relating to the jury selection process for four years following the
emptying and refilling of the master jury wheels and the completion of
service of all jurors selected from those master jury wheels, or for such
longer periods of time as the court may require. Such records may then
be destroyed, providing the means used ensures the privacy of their
contents.
Section 6.04 Request to Inspect Juror Records (See 28 U.S.C. § 1868)
Applications to inspect jury selection process records to determine the
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validity of the selection of any jury must be made by motion to the chief
judge and must set forth why disclosure should be allowed.
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U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Approval of Jury Plan
This plan will remain in full force and effect until approval of one or more modifications by
the reviewing panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
SO ORDERED this _____ )HEUXDU\
VW day of _____________________, 2025.
_______________________________________
Brian M. Morris, Chief Judge
United States District Court
________________________________________
____
______________ _______ ______
________
Kathleen
hleen L. DeSoto
Kath
United States Magistrate Judge
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U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
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