Many of the approximately 55,000 Ada County residents called for jury service each year might dread doing their civic duty, but the county has taken recent steps to improve the experience.
The fourth-floor juror waiting room at the courthouse was refreshed, with new chairs and carpet, improved lighting and an expanded cafe offering a variety of drinks and snacks.
“My goal, my office’s goal, when I started was to change the perception of jury service,” said Ada County jury commissioner Randy Rutland. He’s been with the county since 2015, now in his fourth year as jury commissioner.
Jurors can get help covering the cost of childcare if they need it, or get a ride-share car to the courthouse. Counseling is available for jurors, too; all of it paid for by fellow jurors who donate their compensation.
“Last year over 51% of our jurors out of the entire year donated,” Rutland said. He didn’t establish the juror assistance fund, but started making sure jurors heard about it multiple times during their service.
What was several thousand dollars donated each year about a decade ago is now around $200,000.
“Parking, all of our snacks and drinks in the cafe [are] completely free for jurors, and lunches for jurors as well,” he said, noting that lunches are leveled-up from pizza or fast food.
Comment cards jurors send back at the conclusion of their service show the changes are working, Rutland said. The work has now been recognized at a national level, too.
The National Center for State Courts named Ada County as the 2024 G Thomas Musterman award winner for innovation in jury operations.
The NCSC established the award in 2008. Previous winners have come from court systems in Arizona, Michigan and Alaska, among others.
Rutland said he calls about 1,100 jurors each week to try and fill every trial scheduled for that week. That way, he said, most potential jurors only have to come to the courthouse one day.
“It’s very close to a one-day, one-trial service. That’s my next step, is to try to work into that, where it's even less inconvenient for jurors to have to serve their civic duty.”
