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April 12, 2018


Title: Jury Duty Selection
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials


Part 1 of 2

Jury duty summons are not merely a piece of paper people receive for serving on a jury in court. No, jury duty summons are so much more important because they also affect elections.

Over the next two segments, Chris Daniels, the Harris County District Clerk, will be discussing why jury duty summons are vital to many aspects of the law.

Questions/Issues Discussed:

Can you be chosen for jury duty if you do not register to vote?

How many eligible jurors are in Harris County?

Can the district clerk’s office separate those who may be on two different juror lists? Do some people still slip through the system and get multiple summons every year?

How many people show up to jury duty who are not United States citizens? What are the next steps that are taken in this situation?

What action is necessary if a non-US citizen repeatedly appears in data bases for jury duty and other government business?



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Title: Part 2 of 2 - Jury Duty Selection
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

Questions/Issues Discussed:

How many jury summons are sent from Harris County each year?

Is Chris Daniel required to notify other government entities when someone responds either by mail or in person that they are not eligible for jury duty because they are not a US citizen?

Does this process protect our elections from voter fraud?

To obtain a valid Texas driver’s license, must you be a US citizen? Are DPS officers required to mark people as “citizen” or “non-citizen” in the data base?

How, then, do people appear in the jury duty data base who are not US citizens? NOTE: Pay close attention to this response!

Is the Democrat Tax Accessor Voter Registrar removing names of non-US citizens from the voter list as required by law?




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March 5, 2015


Title: Jury Duty: Honor the Call to Serve
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

Part 1 of 3

Firefighters head into burning buildings while everyone else heads out. Police officers put on protective vests each day at work. Members of the military are ready to head out anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.

What do they have in common? They honor the call to serve when asked.

Everyday folks are called upon to occasionally perform a different role: jury service. We want them to honor the call. Senator Ted Cruz even took time out of his busy, busy schedule to answer his jury summons back in January! If he can, you can! But is it really that important?

Chris Daniel, the Harris County District Clerk, says, “Absolutely! The US Constitution only requires two duties of every citizen: To vote and serve on a jury.” The Founding Fathers thought citizen jury members were so important that they made sure it was included in the Constitution!

Chris explains how the selection process works in this first segment. Did you know that they sometimes send the jury summons letter by certified mail now? No more “lost in the mail” excuses! Also, how can a person avoid getting multiple summons in one year? Listen in!

NOTE: Since the listening area is expanded far beyond Harris County, Chris also explains the mailing process and online information for other counties in the state.



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Title: Part 2 of 3 - Jury Duty: Honor the Call to Serve
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

In this second segment with Chris Daniel, he explains how several of the larger counties in Texas, including Harris County, have separate call-times for people to serve – a morning and an afternoon call-time and when you can reschedule your service to a date more convenient for you. He also details the FREE public transportation opportunities you can utilize on your day of service.

Another fact you may not be aware of: FREE WiFi! Right now, Harris County is one of the only counties to offer Free WiFi to everyone in the courthouse. If you need to send some emails while waiting for your name to be called, feel free! Same with students – even though you can exempt yourself from serving, if you want to “honor the call”, you are more than welcome to bring your schoolwork with you!

Chris also discusses CHL laws and what “weapons” are allowed or not allowed and encourages everyone to respond to their first jury summons notice to save taxpayers tons and tons of money! Chris says, “We want to be efficient with our justice system…so we can have more money spread across the county to help other departments.”



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Title: Part 3 of 3 - Jury Duty: Honor the Call to Serve
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

The District Clerks across Texas obtain names for their jury pool two ways: Voter Registration and Texas Driver’s License. People once believed that if they just avoided registering to vote (shame, shame, shame!) they could avoid jury duty. That is no longer true!

Chris Daniel, “The Clerk of the Court”, continues to discuss the different public transportation opportunities available for people to use on the day they “honor the call”. How do you get a ride for FREE?

And how much money will you get paid if you are chosen to serve on a jury? It’s more than six bucks, that’s for sure! But how are people picked to serve? The process seems complicated, but it is really very simple!

If you’ve ever served on a jury and are curious how you got picked – listen in! If you’ve always wanted to serve on a jury and you’re mad because you haven’t been picked – there’s no right or wrong way to act to be chosen! You need to listen in, too!

Plus, did you know you can donate your jury duty money to charity? Chris gives the details about those charities, too. For more on jury duty in Harris County, click [here].



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February 6, 2013


Title: Tax Break for Businesses when Employers Serve on a Jury
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

House Bill 433, authored by Representative Debbie Riddle, would have terrific benefits for people living in Harris County, Texas.

The bill would allow employers to claim a 15 percent discount when calculating their state margins taxes if they pay their workers who are out for jury service. This would greatly help low-wage workers when they are called for jury duty. In addition, HB 433 would require fewer jury notices to be served, which means residents would be called to serve less frequently.



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January 9, 2013


Title: Donate Your Jury Duty Money to Help Victims of Crimes and Their Family
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

Did you know that you can donate the money you earn to a good cause, such as the Victims Crime Fund or CPS? Yep, that’s right! So, the next time you get that Jury summons in the mail, smile don’t moan and give your time and money to some great causes!



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April 24, 2012


Title: Did Our Founding Fathers Give Their Fame, Fortune, and Lives, to Guarantee You a Trial By Jury?
Topic: Jury Duty
Discussed by Chris Daniel
with Elected Officials

Special guest Chris Daniel answers:

Did our founding fathers give their fame, fortune, and lives to guarantee you to a trial by jury?

Did they wisely understand that question of liberty should NOT be decided by big government, but by a jury of your peers?

In Southeast Texas, do all the counties function the same way when it comes to who is on the jury pool list and who gets summoned?



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