by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Serving on a jury is one of the most important civic duties a citizen can be called on to perform. Unfortunately, it’s also regarded as one of the more inconvenient civic duties.
You have to take time off from work or you have to find someone to take care of your children. You have to come Downtown and you don’t know where anything is and you have to park a long way from the County Courthouse. And that’s before you ever hear a word of testimony in court.
For their service, jurors are compensated at the rate of $15 a day for the first three days ($0 a day if your employer pays you during your service) and $30 a day thereafter.
In an effort to ease part of that inconvenience, last week a new shuttle service began for jurors.
“It’s another way to serve those who serve,” said Clerk of the Courts Jim Fuller.
A top-of-the-line, 20-passenger van equipped with a wheelchair lift made the trip from the Courthouse to Lot Z across the street from the Arena early Monday morning, picked up a group of jurors and then took them straight to the Courthouse.
The vehicle is part of the City’s inventory and is maintained by the Fleet Management Division. It shares a parking space adjacent to the shelter at the St. Andrews JTA station with the trolleys.
Behind the wheel at 7:40 a.m. for the maiden voyage was Special Assistant to the Clerk Craig Shoup, who said he will share driving duties with other members of the Clerk of the Courts’ staff.
“Whoever has a few minutes to spare and can do it in addition to their regular duties,” he said.
That is whoever has a few minutes and also has a Class C CDL with passenger endorsement drivers license. Shoup said he and some of his colleagues were trained and tested at Fleet Management and then went to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles for their licenses.
“We’re licensed for vehicles that weigh 26,000 pounds or less, so we’re not qualified to drive a JTA bus or even a trolley,” said Shoup. He also said the 17,000-pound juror shuttle, “drives like a long van.”
The hours of service will be flexible and reflect the number of trials on the schedule and their start times on any given day. The shuttle also returns jurors to their cars when they are discharged for the day.
“By offering this service, we can make sure the jurors are in the courtrooms when the judges need them,” said Shoup.
Fuller added that being able to have a vehicle dedicated to the return trip is a major improvement. Before the shuttle went into service, they called cabs or had police officers take the jurors back to the parking lot. That was especially important when court adjourned after dark or after 7 p.m. when the trolleys return to the JTA’s yard.
“The shuttle allows us to be more efficient and economical,” he said.
Fuller also said the new service came out of talks he had with Chief Judge Don Moran to come up with ways to make the jury duty experience more pleasant.
It’s not the first time the Clerk has arranged for an amenity for those who are serving the courts and the community. Since August, jurors have been able to get a discount on their lunch at Plaza III Steakhouse at the Hyatt Regency Riverfront by presenting their button or badge.
When asked if he thought the deal on lunch and free shuttle service might cause people to call his office to ask to serve on a jury, Fuller chuckled and said, “I don’t know if that will ever happen.
“But we’re going to do all we can to make the experience as pleasant as possible.”
Photo by Max Marbut