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Home ▸ Departments ▸ Common Pleas

Judge Ruple – Jury

Information on Jury Service in Lake County, Ohio

Please log in to the Jury Management System as instructed to on your summons. at jury.lakecountyohio.gov (link is provided below) complete the online questionnaire and confirm your service before the summons date. Jurors will be notified via email and or text regarding their jury service.

All request for excusal, deferment or disqualification must be made through the jury management system portal at https://jury.lakecountyohio.gov. The court will address all request via the jury management system. The court will reply to your request via email and or text.

WELCOME TO PETIT JURY SERVICE IN THE LAKE COUNTY, OHIO, COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

Reasons you may be excused from jury duty

Any request to be excused from jury duty must be made in writing and e-mailed, mailed, or hand-delivered to the court at least two business days prior to your reporting date. You may have your jury service excused (R.C. 2313.14), if it is shown to the satisfaction of the judge that one or more of the following applies:

 

  • You are disqualified from service if you have been convicted of a felony and are on community control sanctions, post-release control, or parole. Please provide the court the date, court, and reason for the conviction. You are also disqualified from service if you have moved from Lake County. Please provide the court your new address and the date you moved.
  • The interests of the public will be materially injured by your attendance. 
  • Your spouse or near relative has recently died or is dangerously ill. 
  • You have a mental or physical condition that causes you to be incapable of performing jury service, and you have written documentation from a licensed physician verifying your condition that renders you unfit for jury service for the remainder of the year. 
  • Jury service would otherwise cause undue or extreme physical or financial hardship to you or a person under your care or supervision. Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship is limited to circumstances in which any of the following apply: (1) you would be required to abandon a person under your personal care or supervision due to the impossibility of obtaining an appropriate substitute caregiver during the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury; (2) you would incur costs that would have a substantial adverse impact on the payment of your necessary daily living expenses or on those for whom you provide the principal means of support; or (3) you would suffer physical hardship that would result in illness or disease. Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not exist solely based on the fact that you will be required to be absent from your place of employment. By law, employers may not discharge, threaten to discharge, or take disciplinary action against an employee who is summoned to serve as a juror if the employee gives reasonable notice to the employer of the summons prior to the commencement of jury service. An employer may not require an employee to use vacation or sick leave for time spent responding to a summons or serving on jury duty. 
  • You are over 75 years of age. 
  • You may be excused if you have served as a juror in the Lake County Common Pleas Court, General Division, within the past two years.

    **Any request to have your duty excused or deferred must be made in writing and e-mailed, mailed, or hand-delivered to the court at least two business days prior to your reporting date.**

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Video introduction to jury duty in Ohio
— http://www.ohiojudges.org/jury-service-video-brochure
Structure of the Judicial System in Ohio
— http://supremecourt.ohio.gov/judsystem
What to know when you are reporting for jury service:
  • Arrive at the Lake County Court House, 47 North Park Place, First Floor, Painesville, Ohio 44077 on time on the day or days you are instructed to report.
  • Please bring a photo I.D. with you when you report for your service.
  • If you are hearing impaired, the court can provide you with wireless earphones in the courtroom. Just ask the bailiff.
  • All persons entering the courtroom should be dressed in clothing reasonably befitting the dignity and solemnity of court proceedings (e.g., no shorts, tank top, T-shirts, or sandals).
  • When you enter the courthouse, you will go through a security screening. You will walk through a magnetometer, and your purses and parcels will be x-rayed and/or hand checked. No weapons will be permitted.
  • Parking is available in designated spaces in the parking lot (Lot E) behind the courthouse.
  • Payment for jury service will be made by check and will be sent to your home three to four weeks following your service.