State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Georgia > Title-15 > Chapter-12 > Article-3 > 15-12-44O.C.G.A. 15-12-44 (2010)
15-12-44. Procedures on loss or destruction of jury box or jury list
(a) Nonmechanical procedure. When the jury list and jury box, or either, are lost or destroyed between the time of drawing juries and the beginning of the term for which the drawing was made, or before the service of the precepts on the persons named therein, the chief judge of the circuit in which such loss or destruction occurs, immediately on being informed thereof, shall issue an order to the jury commissioners of the county to meet at the county site and prepare a list of citizens eligible to serve as jurors under the Constitution of the state, which list shall contain the names of not less than two-thirds of the upright and intelligent citizens of the county. From this list the commissioners shall select a sufficient number, not exceeding two-fifths of the whole, taking for this purpose the names of the most experienced, intelligent, and upright citizens, and, from the list so selected, shall at once proceed to draw 30 names of persons to serve as grand jurors at the next term of the court. From the remaining three-fifths of the names on the list, the commissioners shall then proceed to draw, in the same manner, not less than 36 to serve as trial jurors at the next term of the court. When the drawings have been completed, the commissioners shall immediately make out and deliver to the clerk of the superior court correct lists of the grand and trial jurors so drawn, and the clerk shall at once deliver to the sheriff, or to the coroner in case the sheriff shall be disqualified, proper precepts containing the names of the persons drawn to serve as grand and trial jurors, respectively, to be served personally, as required by law. The persons so drawn and served, if otherwise eligible, shall be competent to serve as jurors during the term for which they were drawn, without regard to the time of the preparation of the list, the drawing of the jurors, or the date of the service of the venire on the persons whose names are contained therein.
(b) Mechanical or electronic procedure. In counties utilizing mechanical or electronic means for the selection of jurors, all the information contained on the jury lists and in the jury box shall be recorded on microfilm and stored in the vault by the superior court clerk. In the event the information in the storage cell is destroyed or otherwise lost, the microfilm shall be used to reprogram the computer and to create a new storage cell.
