COURTS SERIOUS ON `INVITATION' TO JURY SERVICE AREA RESIDENTS GET ORDERS.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO -- Some people just don't answer their mail.

The Los Angeles Superior Court takes that pretty seriously. After giving potential jurors in the northern portion of the county three polite requests to appear, 742 of them received summonses to appear in Department of North County Superior Court in San Fernando and show cause why they should not be held in contempt.

Don't forget to bring your good excuses. And your checkbook. And your day planner, since you'll eventually be spending some time in the big waiting pool in the courthouse basement.

``Individuals have one last chance before going before the judge,'' said Patricia Kelly, public information officer for the court. ``They can volunteer to serve that day.''

One hundred of them from the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and the northern San Fernando Valley showed up Thursday, and most chose to volunteer for service. Just five appeared before Judge Alice C. Hill to plead their hardships.

Even if fines are paid -- the can go from $250 to $1,500, depending on how many years people duck the system -- individuals are still required to serve.

``The purpose of the hearings was never to collect monetary sanctions. They were done to obtain compliance,'' said Presiding Judge William A. MacLaughlin.

``We hear some pretty good stuff. Some people are just so candid it's hard to believe,'' MacLaughlin said. ``Some come out and say they thought they could get away with it or that we'd never catch up with them. Many of them claim personal hardships. The ones that are hard are the people who claim they don't believe in jury trials or that they'd ever be selected as a juror.''

Those people still get sent to the jury room to take their chances.

Courts in the county need 10,000 jurors per day, and officials say they must sometimes resort to show-cause orders.

Sanction hearings rotate among the county's 12 court districts. Residents of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys were assigned one of four Thursdays in June to appear on orders to show cause.

Since a program of one-trial jury service began in 2000, prospective jurors need only be at a courthouse for a single day unless selected. Those not selected for a panel are excused at the end of the day with their obligation completed for at least 12 months -- on average, 18 months.

``Since the new system was put into place, people are getting a jury of their peers, more so than in the past,'' MacLaughlin said. ``Judges serve like everybody else, and the jury pool is more representative of the community, with a greater variety of occupations and personalities.''

The court pulls from the potential pool of 5 million to 6 million county residents age 18 or older who are registered voters or hold driver's licenses.

She warned people to pay attention to jury summonses and send back a response even if they are not U.S. citizens and will be excused. ``There's a box for them to check,'' she noted. ``The only requirements for being a juror are being age 18 or older, (being) a citizen of the United States and having a basic understanding of the English language.

``Once people actually serve on a jury, they become our biggest fans,'' Kelly said. ``They always tell us it's a worthwhile experience.''

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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