United States District Court
Western District of New York
Jury Plan
March 2025
JURY SELECTION PLAN
OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
FOR THE RANDOM SELECTION OF GRAND AND PETIT JURORS
(As amended March 28, 2025)
Pursuant to the Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968, as amended, 28 U.S.C. § 1861 et seq.,
("the Act"), this Jury Selection Plan is hereby adopted by this Court, subject to approval by the Judicial
Council for United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and to such rules and regulations as
may be adopted from time to time by the Judicial Conference of the United States.
APPLICABILITY OF THE PLAN (28 U.S.C. §§ 1861, 1863)
This Plan is applicable to the Western District of New York. There being no statutory divisions in
the Western District of New York, the District is hereby divided into two divisions for jury selection
purposes only, as defined in 28 U.S.C. § 1869(e), as follows:
1. Buffalo Division -- Counties of Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming, Chautauqua,
Cattaraugus, and Allegany - for sessions of Court held at Buffalo.
2. Rochester Division - Counties of Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Yates,
Steuben, Schuyler, and Chemung - for sessions of Court held at Rochester.
DECLARATION OF POLICY (28 U.S.C. § 1861)
It is the policy of the United States and this Court that all litigants in this Court entitled to trial by
jury shall have the right to grand and petit juries selected at random from a fair cross-section of the
community in each division where the court convenes. It is also the policy of the United States and this
Court that all citizens who reside within the district shall have the opportunity to be considered for service
on grand and petit juries and they shall have an obligation to serve as jurors when summoned for that
purpose.
DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED (28 U.S.C. § 1862)
No citizen shall be excluded from service as a grand or petitjuror in this Court on account of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, or economic status.
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MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION OF THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(1))
The Clerk of Court shall manage the jury selection process under the supervision and control of
the Chief Judge, or such other District Judge or Judges as the Chief Judge may from time to time
designate. In the event of the simultaneous absence, disability, or inability to act of the Chief Judge and
the Chief Judge's designee(s), the active District Judge who is present in the District and has been in
service the greatest length of time shall be authorized to act. In managing and supervising the jury
selection process, the Clerk of Court is authorized to delegate duties as may be necessary in the jury
selection process to Deputy Clerks. The use of the word "clerk" and "clerk of court" in this plan will mean
the clerk of the district court of the United States, any authorized deputy clerk, and any other person
authorized by the court to assist the clerk in the performance of functions under this plan (28 U.S.C.
§ 1869(a)).
SOURCES OF NAMES OF PROSPECTIVE JURORS (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(2))
The names of prospective jurors shall be selected at random, following the procedures outlined in
this Plan. The lists shall be obtained from the voter registration lists of the political subdivisions within
each Division of this district. That list may be further supplemented from some or all of the lists
enumerated below:
• Lists of licensed drivers maintained by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
("DMV")
• Lists of persons receiving New York State Unemployment Insurance Benefits from the New York
State Department of Labor
• Lists of recipients of Home Relief and recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children from
the New York State Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance
• List of filers of IT-100 Fast Form, IT-200 or IT-201 Resident Income Tax Return, IT-214 Claim for
Real Property Tax Credit, or IT-203 Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return
from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
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The above lists shall be merged and any duplication between the lists shall be purged. The resulting
combined list is hereinafter referred to as the "combined source list."
MAINTAINING THE MASTER JURY WHEEL (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(3) & (4))
The names of prospective jurors selected at random from the combined source list, following the
procedures outlined in this Plan, shall be placed in a Master Jury Wheel. There shall be a separate
Master Jury Wheel for each of the two Divisions in the District.
The minimum number of names to be placed initially in the Master Jury Wheels shall be as
follows:
1. Buffalo Division - 30,000 names beginning with the prior year master wheel refill
2. Rochester Division - 30,000 names beginning with the prior year master wheel refill
Each Master Jury Wheel shall be emptied and refilled at least annually, and upon order of the
Chief Judge or the Chief Judge's designee(s), may be supplemented with additional names selected on a
random basis to assure an adequate supply of qualified jurors. The Clerk of Court, with the approval of
the Chief Judge or the Chief Judge's designee(s), may revise the minimum number of names for any
Master Jury Wheel without need for amendment to this Plan.
METHOD AND MANNER OF RANDOM SELECTION (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(3))
The selection of names from complete source list databases in electronic media for the creation
of a master jury wheel will be accomplished by using a properly programmed electronic data processing
system employing a purely random selection technique. A properly programmed electronic data
processing system for pure randomized selection will be used to select names from the master jury wheel
for the purpose of summoning persons to serve as grand or petit jurors.
Such random selections of names from the source list for inclusion in the master jury wheel by
data computer personnel must ensure that the names of persons residing in each county within the jury
division is substantially proportionally represented in the master jury wheel according to the number of
registered voters in each county. The selection of names from the source list and the master jury wheel
must also ensure that the mathematical odds of any single name being picked are substantially equal.
In order to ensure the exercise of proper supervision and management over the automated
aspects of jury selection and in accordance with statutory requirements, the operator of the computer
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shall comply with the instructions for random selection of grand and petit jurors by electronic machine
methods contained in the Court's plan for random selection of grand and petit jurors and such additional
written instructions as provided by the Court.
DRAWING OF NAMES FROM THE MASTER JURY WHEEL - ONE STEP SUMMONING AND
COMPLETION OF JURY QUALIFICATION FORM (28 U.S.C. §§ 1878.1864(a).1864(b) and 1866(9))
This District has adopted the one-step summoning and qualification procedure. Accordingly, all
prospective jurors shall be qualified and summoned in a single procedure through the Jury Management
System. The Jury Management System (JMS) provided and supported by the Administrative Office of
the United States Courts, shall be used to select names from the master jury wheel of persons to be
summoned to serve as grand or petit jurors and for the recording of names and other information on any
papers and records needed by the Court to administer the selection and payment of juries.
From time to time, as ordered by the Court, the Clerk of the Court shall draw at random from the
master jury wheel using a properly programmed data processing system, the names of as many
individuals as may be required for jury service for a particular jury division. The Court will specify the
number of jurors to be drawn based on anticipated juror usage plus a margin of additional names
sufficient to compensate for individuals who become unavailable or ineligible to serve as jurors.
The Clerk of Court will post a general notice for public review in the Clerk's Office and to the
Court's website explaining the processes by which names are periodically and randomly drawn.
The Clerk of the Court shall retain the names so drawn, and shall mail to every person whose
name is drawn from the master jury wheel a one-step summons/qualification form, accompanied by
instructions to fill out and return the form to the Clerk's Office within ten (10) days. The form may either
(1) be completed manually and returned to the Clerk's Office by mail, or (2) be completed electronically
through the Court's internet website at www.nywd.uscourts.gov. The qualification questionnaire used will
be approved as to form and content by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts and the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Each juror qualification questionnaire will require completion by the individual to whom the
questionnaire is addressed. Should the addressee be unable to complete the questionnaire, another
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individual may do so, indicating the need and reason(s) therefore. In cases where there appears to be an
omission, ambiguity or error in a completed juror qualification questionnaire, the questionnaire will be
returned promptly to the individual with instructions that corrections or additional information are required.
Any person failing to return a juror qualification questionnaire may be summoned to do so. Any
person failing to appear pursuant to a summons may be ordered by the Court to appear and show cause
for failure to comply with the summons. A person failing to appear or show cause for noncompliance with
a jury summons may be fined not more than $1,000.00, imprisoned not more than three (3) days or
ordered to perform community service (or any combination thereof).
SELECTION. SUMMONING. AND ASSIGNMENT OF GRAND JURORS {28 U.S.C. § 1866)
Upon order of the Court, if a grand jury is to be empaneled, this will be done initially from the
prospective jurors reporting. Separate grand jury panels shall be selected and maintained in each
divisional office. Prospective jurors not designated to sit on a grand jury shall thereafter be added to the
pool from which petit jurors shall be selected and shall remain available for service until selected or until
the time for service expires.
Each grand jury shall serve until discharged by the Chief Judge, but no regular, criminal grand
jury shall serve for more than eighteen (18) months unless the Court extends the service of the grand jury
for a period of six months or less, upon a determination that such extension is in the public interest.
Special Grand Juries as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 3331, shall serve a term of eighteen (18) months unless
an order for discharge is entered earlier by the Court. If, at the end of an eighteen-month term or any
extension thereof, the Court determines the business of the grand jury has not been completed, the Court
may enter an order extending such term for up to three additional six-month periods. No special grand
jury term so extended shall exceed thirty-six months, except as provided in 18 U.S.C. § 3333(e).
The Court may direct that alternate jurors may be designated at the time a grand jury is selected.
Alternate jurors in the order in which they were designated may thereafter be empaneled to replace
excused jurors. Alternate jurors shall be drawn in the same manner and shall have the same
qualifications as the regular jurors and if empaneled shall be subject to the same challenges, shall take
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the same oath and shall have the same functions, powers, facilities and privileges as the regular grand
jurors.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR JURY SERVICE (28 U.S.C. § 1865}
The Chief Judge or presiding judge, on his or her own initiative, or on the recommendation of the
Clerk of Court, or the Clerk of Court under the supervision of the Court, shall determine solely on the
basis of information provided on the juror qualification form and other competent evidence whether a
person is unqualified for, or exempt, or to be excused from jury service. The Clerk shall enter such
determination in the space provided on the juror qualification form and in the electronic database. If a
person did not appear in response to a summons, such fact shall be noted.
Any person shall be deemed qualified to serve on grand and petit juries in this Court unless he or
she:
(1) is not a citizen of the United States eighteen years old who has resided for a period of one
year within this District;
(2) is unable to read, write, and understand the English language with a degree of proficiency
sufficient to fill out satisfactorily the juror qualification form;
(3) is unable to speak the English language;
(4) is incapable, by reason of mental or physical infirmity, to render satisfactory jury service; or
(5) has a charge pending 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 has not had civil
rights restored.
EXEMPTIONS FROM JURY SERVICE (28 U.S.C. §§ 1863(b)(6); 1869(i))
The Court hereby finds that the exemption of the following occupational classes or groups of
persons is in the public interest, not inconsistent with the Act, and shall be granted for:
1) members in active service of the armed forces of the United States;
2) full-time members of Fire or Police Departments of any State, District, Territory, Possession,
or subdivision thereof;
3) public officers in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the government of the
United States or a State, District, Territory, or Possession or subdivision thereof who are
actively engaged in the performance of official duties (public officer shall mean a person who
is either elected to public office or who is directly appointed by a person elected to public
office).
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EXCUSE FROM JURY SERVICE UPON INDIVIDUAL REQUEST (28 U.S.C. §§ 1863f b)(S)(A) & (B);
1866fe); 1869(i))
The Court hereby finds that jury service by members of the following occupational classes or
groups of persons would entail undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the members thereof, and
the excuse of such members would not be inconsistent with the Act and that upon individual request such
persons shall be excused:
1) Persons over seventy (70) years of age;
2) Persons who have, within the past two years, served on a federal or state grand or petitjury
panel;
3) Persons having active care and custody of a child or children under twelve (12) years of age
whose health and/or safety would be jeopardized by their absence for jury service;
4) A person who is essential to the care of the aged or infirm persons;
5) volunteer safety personnel (personnel who serve without compensation as fire fighters, members
of a rescue squad or ambulance crew for a public agency); or
6) Any person whose services are so essential to the operation of a business, commercial, or
agricultural enterprise that said enterprise must close if such person were required to perform jury
duty.
TEMPORARY EXCUSES (28 U.S.C. §§ 1866(c)(1 ); 1869(i))
The Chief Judge, presiding judge, or the Clerk of Court under the supervision of the Court, may
grant temporary excuses on the grounds of undue hardship or extreme inconvenience. The names of
individuals temporarily excused shall be reinserted into the master jury wheel for possible re-summoning.
If the circumstances causing undue hardship or extreme inconvenience may be reasonably expected to
continue for an indefinite period, the prospective juror may be excused from the current jury wheel.
PERIOD OF POTENTIAL PETIT JURY SERVICE
Persons summoned for petit jury service shall be subject to being called for such service for a
period of ninety (90) days following the date of first appearance or reporting, unless they shall then be
serving as jurors in an uncompleted trial, or until they shall have completed service as a trial juror in one
trial, whichever shall have occurred first. In extraordinary circumstances, the Chief Judge may issue an
order extending the ninety-day period in a particular case.
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FREQUENCY OF SERVICE (28 U.S.C. §1866(e))
In any two-year period! no person shall be required to (1) 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 (2) to serve on more than one grand jury, or (3) to serve as both a grand
and petit juror.
RECORDS TO BE MAINTAINED BY THE CLERK AND MADE PUBLIC UPON REQUEST (28 U.S.C.
§§ 1863(a); 1867(f); 1868)
The Clerk of Court shall retain all jury records and papers complied and maintained by the Clerk
of Court, including the following documents:
1) Jury Selection Plan;
2) Orders regarding refilling of the master jury wheel, petit juries, and grand juries;
3) Jury memos from the Administrative Office and internal memos;
4) Qualification questionnaires;
5) Pre-screening questionnaires;
6) Individual petit jury and grand jury panel information; and,
7) Administrative Office reports: JS-11, JS-11 G and AO-12.
These records shall not be disclosed, except (1) pursuant to this Plan, or (2) pursuant to an order
of the Court finding disclosure is necessary in preparation of a motion challenging the selection of a jury,
until the master jury wheel has been refilled and all persons selected as jurors from the prior master jury
wheel have completed service. Parties who have obtained an order of disclosure shall be allowed to
inspect, reproduce, and copy such records at reasonable times during the pendency of the motion
challenging the selection of a jury.
Upon written order of the Court, except when the court orders a longer retention period, these
records can be disposed of four (4) years after the master jury wheel has been refilled and all persons
selected have completed jury service in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1868. These records shall not be
transferred to the Federal Records Center.
RELEASE OF JUROR INFORMATION (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(7))
Names and personal information concerning petit and grand jurors shall not be disclosed to
attorneys, parties, the public or the media, except as provided herein.
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Names and personal information concerning persons who have been entered in the jury wheel
shall not be disclosed, except upon order of the Court.
Names and personal information concerning prospective and sitting petit jurors shall not be
disclosed to the public or media outside open court, except upon order of the Court. A request for
disclosure of petit juror names and personal information to the media or public must be made in writing to
the presiding judge.
The Clerk of Court may provide names and personal information concerning prospective petit
jurors to the attorneys (or a party if proceeding prose) in a case set for trial unless otherwise directed by
the Court. The names and information will be provided in written form only (hereafter the jury list"). The
11
attorneys (or party) may not share the jury list or information therein except as necessary for purposes of
jury selection. Following jury selection, the attorneys (or party) provided the jury list must return to the
clerk the jury list and any copies made from the jury list provided to them and/or destroy them.
The Court may order juror names and personal information to be kept confidential when the
interests of justice so require.
APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS (28 U.S.C. § 1869)
The provisions of this Plan apply to both divisions in the District unless specifically indicated
otherwise.
The definitions set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1869 shall apply to this Plan unless specifically indicated
otherwise.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This plan as amended t h i ~ o f March, 2025, shall become effective when
approved by the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit.
FOR THE COURT
ELIZABETH A. WOLF
Chief Judge, U.S. District Court
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JUDICIAL COUNCIL
APPROVED
APR 02 2025
C/E
CA02db CourtBallots
From: CA02db CourtBallots
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 12:20 PM
To: Brenda Sannes; Christina Reiss; Debra Livingston; Elizabeth Wolford; Joseph Bianco;
Laura Swain; Margo Brodie; Michael Park; Michael Shea; Raymond Lohier; Richard
Sullivan; Steven Menashi; William Nardini
Cc: Barton Lewis; Catherine Blanco; Courtney Stonefelt; DAL Mailbox; Dominique Welch;
Hannah Beitler; Laurie Housman; Michele Czarnecki; Michele Savona; Michael Jordan;
Ross Centanni
Subject: Proposed Changes to Jury Plan - WDNY - ACTION REQUESTED
Attachments: 3.28.2025 Ltr M. Jordan re Jury Plan.pdf; 2025 Jury Plan.pdf; 2025 Jury Plan - 3.28.25
redline.pdf
Dear Judicial Council:
The Western District of New York seeks Judicial Council approval for changes to its Jury Plan.
The written request from Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford along with clean and redline versions of the Plan
are attached for your review.
Kindly reply with your vote by April 8.
Thank you
Office or the Circuit F.xnutln•
Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse
40 f oley Square. Room :290•1
~ew York, NY 10007
(212)-857-S700
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