by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Mike Riley begins his work week at the Duval County Courthouse the same way every Monday morning. He stands up in front of a crowd of people and asks, “How many of you want to be here?”
The response is almost always the same.
“It’s seldom that more than one or two hands goes up,” said Riley, who is the Assistant to the Clerk of the Court. One of his responsibilities is managing the more than 50,000 people who are summoned for jury duty each year in Duval County. He said the Clerk’s Office tries to make the experience as pleasant as possible.
“For some jurors, it can create a hardship. If jurors are paid by their employer, they’re not paid for their first three days of service, then they receive $30 a day after that. If they are not paid by their employer, they get $15 a day for the first three days, then $30 a day. Not only are they underpaid, but we don’t have enough parking spaces for them here at the Courthouse, so they have to leave their cars at the stadium and ride a shuttle.
“We are always looking for things we can do to make things better for jurors,” said Riley.
One of the things jurors have to contend with every day they serve is where to find a fast and economical lunch. Unlike people who work Downtown, most people who serve on juries aren’t familiar with the available dining options, so when court adjourns for the midday break, they may feel a little lost.
Riley said he was directed by Clerk of the Court Jim Fuller to contact restaurants within walking distance to see if any would be willing to accommodate the jurors’ time limit and lunch budget restrictions.
When he went to Plaza III The Steakhouse in the Hyatt Regency Riverfront and asked if the restaurant thought it would be a good idea to create a lunch special for jurors, the management raised their right hand and said, “We do.”
Three discounted specials are available for $7 (plus sales tax and gratuity) by showing a juror pin or badge: Plaza III meatloaf, a club sandwich or soup and salad plus iced tea or a soft drink. The discount is also available to anyone who works in the Courthouse.
Susan Perry, Plaza III banquet manager, said it didn’t take the jurors a long time to reach a verdict.
“Since we started the program, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of people we are seating at lunch. All of our servers want to work during the day now. Our lunch prices have always been competitive, but they needed volume to make money and now that’s no problem,” she said.
Plaza III Manager Carol Morales said the promotion has also turned out to be a unique marketing opportunity.
“People who might never have come to the restaurant are trying us out for lunch. One man told me he didn’t even know we were here before he had jury duty and he was going to come back with his wife for dinner.”
Plaza III offers the lunch specials for jurors and people who work at the Courthouse Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.