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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1869. Definitions
For purposes of this chapter -
(a) "clerk" and "clerk of the court" shall mean the clerk of
the district court of the United States, any authorized deputy
clerk, and any other person authorized by the court to assist the
clerk in the performance of functions under this chapter;
(b) "chief judge" shall mean the chief judge of any district
court of the United States;
(c) "voter registration lists" shall mean the official records
maintained by State or local election officials of persons
registered to vote in either the most recent State or the most
recent Federal general election, or, in the case of a State or
political subdivision thereof that does not require registration
as a prerequisite to voting, other official lists of persons
qualified to vote in such election. The term shall also include
the list of eligible voters maintained by any Federal examiner
pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 where the names on such
list have not been included on the official registration lists or
other official lists maintained by the appropriate State or local
officials. With respect to the districts of Guam and the Virgin
Islands, "voter registration lists" shall mean the official
records maintained by territorial election officials of persons
registered to vote in the most recent territorial general
election;
(d) "lists of actual voters" shall mean the official lists of
persons actually voting in either the most recent State or the
most recent Federal general election;
(e) "division" shall mean: (1) one or more statutory divisions
of a judicial district; or (2) in statutory divisions that
contain more than one place of holding court, or in judicial
districts where there are no statutory divisions, such counties,
parishes, or similar political subdivisions surrounding the
places where court is held as the district court plan shall
determine: Provided, That each county, parish, or similar
political subdivision shall be included in some such division;
(f) "district court of the United States", "district court",
and "court" shall mean any district court established by chapter
5 of this title, and any court which is created by Act of
Congress in a territory and is invested with any jurisdiction of
a district court established by chapter 5 of this title;
(g) "jury wheel" shall include any device or system similar in
purpose or function, such as a properly programed electronic data
processing system or device;
(h) "juror qualification form" shall mean a form prescribed by
the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and
approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States, which
shall elicit the name, address, age, race, occupation, education,
length of residence within the judicial district, distance from
residence to place of holding court, prior jury service, and
citizenship of a potential juror, and whether he should be
excused or exempted from jury service, has any physical or mental
infirmity impairing his capacity to serve as juror, is able to
read, write, speak, and understand the English language, has
pending against him any charge for the commission of a State or
Federal criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for more than
one year, or has been convicted in any State or Federal court of
record of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year and has not had his civil rights restored. The form shall
request, but not require, any other information not inconsistent
with the provisions of this title and required by the district
court plan in the interests of the sound administration of
justice. The form shall also elicit the sworn statement that his
responses are true to the best of his knowledge. Notarization
shall not be required. The form shall contain words clearly
informing the person that the furnishing of any information with
respect to his religion, national origin, or economic status is
not a prerequisite to his qualification for jury service, that
such information need not be furnished if the person finds it
objectionable to do so, and that information concerning race is
required solely to enforce nondiscrimination in jury selection
and has no bearing on an individual's qualification for jury
service.
(i) "public officer" shall mean a person who is either elected
to public office or who is directly appointed by a person elected
to public office;
(j) "undue hardship or extreme inconvenience", as a basis for
excuse from immediate jury service under section 1866(c)(1) of
this chapter, shall mean great distance, either in miles or
traveltime, from the place of holding court, grave illness in the
family or any other emergency which outweighs in immediacy and
urgency the obligation to serve as a juror when summoned, or any
other factor which the court determines to constitute an undue
hardship or to create an extreme inconvenience to the juror; and
in addition, in situations where it is anticipated that a trial
or grand jury proceeding may require more than thirty days of
service, the court may consider, as a further basis for temporary
excuse, severe economic hardship to an employer which would
result from the absence of a key employee during the period of
such service;
(k) "publicly draw", as referred to in sections 1864 and 1866
of this chapter, shall mean a drawing which is conducted within
the district after reasonable public notice and which is open to
the public at large under the supervision of the clerk or jury
commission, except that when a drawing is made by means of
electronic data processing, "publicly draw" shall mean a drawing
which is conducted at a data processing center located in or out
of the district, after reasonable public notice given in the
district for which juror names are being drawn, and which is open
to the public at large under such supervision of the clerk or
jury commission as the Judicial Conference of the United States
shall by regulation require; and
(l) "jury summons" shall mean a summons issued by a clerk of
court, jury commission, or their duly designated deputies,
containing either a preprinted or stamped seal of court, and
containing the name of the issuing clerk imprinted in preprinted,
type, or facsimile manner on the summons or the envelopes
transmitting the summons.
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