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The legislature of the State of South Carolina recognizes that trial by jury is a cherished Constitutional right, and that jury service is an obligation of citizenship.
Each year, the State Election Commission provides Charleston County with a list containing the names of registered voters, persons holding valid driver's licenses, and persons with state identification cards. Duplicate names and persons under the age of 18 have already been stricken from the list by the time it is sent. This list is on a magnetic tape which is then used by Charleston County to create a computer file from which jurors are selected. The computerized jury selection program contains a randomization routine to insure that jurors are selected entirely at random. The juror selection for the Magistrate's Courts only selects jurors who live in the area served by a particular Magistrate's Court. while the other Courts select jurors from throughout the entire county. Once selected, summonses or notices are created and mailed out to the persons selected for service.
Jury selection takes place at different times and frequencies, depending on the number of jury trials scheduled by the various County Courts. The county Grand Jurors are selected only one or two times each year, whereas the Common Pleas and General Sessions juries are drawn on a weekly basis. Magistrates' Courts may draw a jury only a few times a year, depending on the number of requests for jury trial received by the courts. The Coroner's Office also draws its jurors on an "as-needed" basis.
Persons chosen for jury service in the Courts of General Sessions and Common Pleas are exempted from further service in those courts for a period of three years following the year in which they served. The computer selection program marks the names of persons selected for service so that they cannot be chosen again until their exemption period has passed. However, this does not prevent you from being picked to serve on a Magistrate's Court jury, Coroner's Court jury or a Municipal Court jury. The exemption period for Grand Jurors is five years following the year of service.
Persons chosen for jury duty in a Magistrate's Court are exempted from selection for additional service in a Magistrate's Court for a period of three months following the month and year in which they served. This exemption does not affect the possibility of being selected to serve on a Common Pleas, General Sessions or Coroner's Court jury.
Persons chosen for jury service in the Coroner's Court are exempted from further service for a period of one year following the year in which they served. Like the other courts, the exemption only applies to selection within the Coroner's Court and does not prevent selection for service by another court.
Municipal Courts select juries independantly of the County Courts, and may have different rules regarding jury selection and service.
Should you have further questions regarding jury service in the Court of Common Pleas, Court of General Sessions, the County Grand Jury, any Magistrates' Court jury, or the Coroner's Court, you may learn more by clicking on one of the options listed below.