May 21, 2013
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- The process of selecting jurors for Georgia trials has brought challenges since the state implemented the new rules on July 1.
Until this year, Georgia counties were among the last in the nation still using the "balanced box" system of jurors. The box is demographically representative of each county's race and sex, but it excludes a large percentage of eligible citizens from serving on a jury.
The new jury pool, created by the Jury Reform Act of 2011, draws from the Department of Driver Services' records and includes just about everyone with a driver's license in Georgia.
In Richmond County, the pool of potential jurors has grown since July 1 from 20,000 to about 100,000 and far more people in the county are now receiving summonses under the new system.
