CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County Jury Commissioners Linda K. Hatcher and Ellen Harry met last week with their peers from around the state at the Ramada Inn in Altoona.
Speaker for the evening was Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron, former mayor of Altoona. Judge Milliron discussed the importance of the job done by jury commissioners and recommended they educate legislators as well as the public about their duties and responsibilities.
Jury commissioners are elected in 58 counties and are charged by statute with selecting and summoning prospective jurors to court for trials. Two are elected in each county and must be of different political parties. This guarantees an impartial selection of jurors.
Francis Kuhn, Pennsylvania Association of Jury Commissioners president, welcomed 16 of the 22 new jury commissioners elected last year were welcomed to the event, as well as returning members and their guests.
Some of the larger counties have court in session all year and others have only a few weeks of trials.
The number of jurors and the method of summoning them vary from county to county, some using computers and others manual methods, but the law requires, and all comply with a random selection from lists such as voter registration, tax rolls or driver licenses. The commissioners gather to learn from each other and to discuss legislative matters that affect their responsibilities. They confer with their solicitor and elect officers during the conference.
Pamela Bisbing, Monroe County jury commissioner, was elected to succeed Kuhn as president. Monroe County will host the jury commissioners’ conference in 2007