Prince George's County Circuit Court — Local services in Upper Marlboro

I was scheduled for Trial Jury Duty towards the end of April 2018. I actually had mixed feelings about the entire jury duty ordeal, but I digress.

This was my second time being notified of jury duty (you normally receive a summons every three years). The first time I was granted a legitimate exemption.

I opted to park my car at the Equestrian Center & take the free shuttle bus that runs every five minutes or so from about 6am to 5pm. This was a very seamless process. There are also 2 hour maximum metered parking spaces located closer to the courthouse, but I highly discourage this because you will not have time to go out every two hours to feed the meter. If your car is towed, tough luck, you’re responsible for all expenses. (*If you are selected as a primary juror & your case lasts more than a day, you will be given a parking pass to park in the covered garage, right next to the courthouse).

Jurors have to report by 7:30am. All jurors & potential jurors, w/their summons in hand, will be allowed to proceed through security first. I alerted every time I walked through the metal detector due to bobby pins in my hair, but this was never an issue. Food & closed container drinks are allowed through security, but absolutely restricted inside the courtrooms.

The jury duty room (M2400) is located on the second floor, on the left hand side. You must check in each day, w/your summons, in order to receive credit for being present. The staff will place a red stamp on your summons (Applicable Date and Year) each day that you are a juror.

Please keep and make a copy of your summons---very, very important, I actually emailed a copy to myself. Should the great state of Maryland and the magnificent county of Prince George ever notify you of juror duty before your three year window, this summons will serve as proof you’ve already accomplished your civic duty. :)

On the day that I arrived there were over 400 potential jurors that showed. The juror supervisor, the awesome Ms. Magella "Bug” Kincade, along with her superior team, will talk and walk all jurors through the day’s procedures. Potential jurors are divided randomly into colored groups, w/your own unique juror number assigned, for that exact group.

My particular group included 83 jurors. Once all the jurors have been assigned there is a short waiting period for the judge to call your specific group. Once your group is called an assigned bailiff will walk all the jurors to the judge’s courtroom. While in the courtroom you are now addressed as your juror number; no names allowed.

The courtroom includes the judge, clerk administrator, court reporter (stenographer), bailiff, prosecutor, defense lawyer, defendant (if applicable) and police (security) officers. Let me interject and mention that our particular judge was absolutely amazing (professional, but witty, in a non-condescending manner)…not sure if I’m allowed to say their name, so I'll refrain.

The judge will explain the case (mine was a murder trial) & go through a series of questions. If the particular question applies, you will stand up, say your juror number & explain, if asked. The last set of questions asked (I.e., have you ever committed a particular crime, been witness to a particular crime, etc.) will be answered at the judge’s bench, under the strict confidentiality of only the judge, prosecutor, defense lawyer & stenographer, hearing and recording your answer.

I don’t know how, but I was selected as a primary juror for the case & trial, go figure, lol, which lasted more than a day (and which I shall not divulge any of the proceedings).

Overall jury duty was not bad, more of an inconvenience, if anything. I actually enjoyed it once I knew my role and expectations & our bailiff was super cool, hilarious, but most importantly, helpful.

You will be paid $15 per day for jury duty & will receive your check in the mail within 6 weeks, I believe. Or you can opt to donate your earnings to the Generous Juror Program to help needy children.

I hope I’ve answered all of your questions and...

The jury office in the P.G. County Circuit Court is not doing ann efficient job of ensuring that mail is received and processed into its system timely to eliminate erroneous threatening letters to hold one in contempt. In October 2024, my son received a Summons and Trail Jury Qualification Form. He preferred to complete the form in hard copy and mail it rather than online. I sat with him as he completed and signed it on October 21, 2024. We took pictures of the form and stamped envelope to document that the form was completed. I mailed the form inside the Hampton Post Office on October 23, 2024, at approximately 3:13 p.m. I took pictures of the form before and after I placed inside the mail slot for record keeping purposes. However, he receives another letter from the Jury Office in late November stating that he has not returned the Qualification Form and he can be held in contempt!!! He called the Jury Office to inquiry about his form and could only get a recording. I suggested he go to the Jury Office and show proof that he returned the form but he had already completed and submitted another Qualification Form online. That was on or about December 6, 2024 and should have been the end of it, but it was not. Last last week he receives a second letter from the Jury Office stating that the form has not been received and he can be held in contempt. So now we will go to the Jury Office to find out what is the disconnect and who is responsible. The last time I reported to jury service, the employees who check jurors in did not know that I was still sitting in the waiting room for my juror number to be called. It was about 4:30 p.m. before someone came to the room and saw that I was the only person left in the room. I was asked if my number had been called and I said no. The employee came back and apologized and said that I was dismissed. I quietly got up and left. I could not believe it, I had been in that room all day and none of the employees was aware that I had not been called. Some of us try to be responsive and compliant in doing our civic duty but we cannot when we experience this kind of inefficiency with our...

The MD Courts is very much like most governments agencies be it stare or federal- inefficient, negligent, and harassing.

I have a payment plan with them for traffic tickets I admitted wrongdoing for. Additionally, I already PAID a considerable amount of my fines. However, since my plan started in August, they have lost one check and sent notice I didn't pay. I sent ANOTHER check and request for hearing per Clerk of Courts direction. The first and second checks BOTH WERE CASHED. They total $129 dollars which is Aug- Sept- October payments. I got another late notice this weekend.

If they sent payment received notices or better yet spent more time making sure payments received were properly ACCOUNTED FOR, there would be no animosity at this point on my part. They give half tail information to contact anyone. There is no email information or other when you go to their site to check on parking or traffic fines. This reeks of typical government maneuvers to evade truly assisting people in hopes of extorting and harassing them out of money because they alone decide you are not paying. You can believe I will be lodging a complaint and requesting a hearing AGAIN and I have RECEIPTS of my certified mail sent last month and bank account showing the checks were cashed. Either a clerk is stealing them or you all need a better tracking system. However, HARASSING AND extorting when people including myself are harassed and extorted enough by the high inflation we are facing which is a result of runaway government spending and bad policies. You want to take mire money than is due cause you need to keep funding tour own incompetence. 👎 You are as pathetically run as my city government, the District of Columbia. I want...