The Heppner (iiiette-Times. Heppner. Oregon, Thursday, April. 3. I9R0 THREF
Tf JFiti lie addition of a district court in the county,
JUry SeleCtlOn prOCeSS: chances will increase that voters tail have to serve
The following l the first of a
two-purl scries on the Jury
nystem In Morrow County.
This article drain with the
election process for the
Justice and circuit courts.
Next week. New Fdllor
Steve Powell (ells of his
pcrxonul experience on a Jury
recently and given example
of aome different Jury procen
e that other atate and
Oregon counties are ulng In
an effort to save the county
money and aave time for the
Juror.
By Steven A. Powell
JOB OPPORTUNITY:
Make $10 a day and eight cents
a mile to and from work.
Probably not too many
people would answer an ad
like that. But many people
have to serve in that low-paying
job when they are called to
Jury duty by a court summons.
While most other prices and
wages have sky-rocketed in
recent years, the pay for a
juror has remained the same.
People in Morrow County
have a better chance of
nerving on a jury than in other
counties because of the (small
population. When the district
court begins to come to
Heppner July 1. the chances
will he even greater.
Currently, jury lists for the
two justice courts and the
circuit court for Morrow
County are drawn every year.
This vear. there are 3.4K2
registered voters in the county
to choose from.
At the first of the year. 6th
District Court Justice Char
lotte Gray draws 2(Ki names
from the voter registration
lists. legislation stales that at
leas! 50 names must be drawn
for the yearly list . Gray said if
only 50 names were selected,
persons may not be picked
that many times but when
they are picked, they would
have to sit on more trials.
Gray puts the 2(H) names on
cards and she is the only
person involved in this portion
of the jury selection process.
Since the fith District Court
serves only south Morrow
County, she can only choose
names from the seven pre
cincts in that end of the county
and cannot choose from the
north end. She selects the
justice jurors from the pre
cinct lists from Hardman.
lone, lcxinglnn and the three
precincts in Heppner.
"There are not that many to
pick from." she said.
Cray said she divides these
seven precincts into the 20
needed to come out with an
average for each precinct. She
said Hardman usually has
fewer jurors because it is
smaller than Ihe other pre
cincts. Once a person is on the
justice court jury list, he is on
it for the entire year. A person
cannot le on the same jury list
two years in a row but can
hypothetic-ally be on a differ
ent jury court list every year.
Many people complain that it
seems as if they have to serve
year after year and It is
possible. A person can serve
on a circuit court trial Jury or
grand jury one year and then
be on a justice court jury list
the next year and then back on
the circuit court or on a
district court the following
year. But a person cannot, by
law, serve on the same
court on succeeding years.
The Legislature has esta
blished a law stating that a
person can be put back on the
same court jury list after
being off it for only one year.
Approximately two weeks
before a trial. Gray selects 1ft
names at random from Ihe list
of 2o on her yearly list that
was made from Ihe voter
registration records at the
county clerk's office Both
attornevs observe Ihe selec
tion and drawing of the 18
names. Grav said she draws
everyone's name once and
then for Ihe rest of the trials in
Ihe year, draws Ihe names
randomly.
"In a county Ihis small,
chances are good that you will
end up on a jury list." Gray
said.
Of the 18 persons selected,
three names are taken off by
the district attorney and three
more by the defense attorney.
The twelve that are left are
summoned to court by the
county sheriff's office depart
ment to appear for jury duty.
I'p to three of the persons
summoned can be excused by
the justice for sickness or
other reasons,
Nine are left to appear the
day of Ihe trial. The two
attorneys question the jurors
individually and three are
excused leaving the best six
impartial jurors available.
"A person has no choice nol
to come (if summoned to jury
duly and not excused)." Gray
said. "II would be contpmpt of
court. I have never had that
happen.
A juror can be fined up to
$100 a day and cited for the
criminal charge of contempt
of court if he does not appear
when summoned.
Many angry citizens try to
get out of jury duty but the
justice decides if the reason is
valid only if it involves "undue
hardship or inconvenience,"
according to statute. The 1979
legislature repealed ORS 10.
040 that exempted physicians,
f "" jU li r - If I
oNatural-gas pipeline
to cross Morrow County
The projected natural gas
pipeline linking F'rudhoe Bay,
Alaska, with California will
cross central Oregon- includ
ing 35 miles in Morrow
County It has received an
initial grant of approval from
the U.S. government, accord
ing to a rcMirt to the Heppner
Ga.etteTimes. Construction
in this area is foreseen in two
or three years at the earliest
A recently issued permit
from the Bureau of Ind
Management covers Kill miles
of the "western leg" from Ihe
Idaho British Columbia lar
der to Stanfield, in t'matilhi
County.
The permit was to the
Pacific Gas Transmission Co,
(PGTl which operates the
existing :ifi-inch diameter
pipeline that carries Alberta
natural gas to California
markets.
Allen Ci. Hooker, public
affairs director for PGT in San
Francisco, said the Alaska
line is to follow the route of the
Alaska Highway southward
through Canada, (hen branch
into western and eastern legs
to enter the United Stales.
The western leg would
follow I'GT's present pipeline
corridor in Idaho. Washington
and Oregon.
Hooker explained that a
number of regulatory issues
still must he decided in the
United States and Canada
before actual construction of
the first -phase western leg
facilities can begin. However,
if resolved promptly, portions
of the new facilities could be in
service by mid 1 OH I
The new facilities will be
installed in four general
locations between the Canada -U.S.
border and Stanfield, and
will be used along with the
connecting systems of North
west Pipeline Corp. and Kl
Paso Natural Gas Company to
provide a new source of
Canadian natural gas to the
more than 3.6 million natural
gas customers served by
Southern California Gas Co. in
southern California.
The overall project is known
as the AlaskdMMatural Gas
Transportation System. Its
general contractor is the
Northwest Pipeline Co. of Salt
Lake City. A consortium of
American companies would
be responsible for the pipeline
in Alaska, and of Canadian
companies for sections to be
built in the Yukon Territory.
British Columbia and Alber'a.
The western leg; will be
undertaken by PGT. a subsi
diary of the Pacific Gas and
Kleclric Co. . which distributes
parallel "looping" of the
existing PGT and PG&E
systems which have trans
ported Canadian natural gas
to the San Francisco area
since 11 . The Iwo companies
will construct the remaining
sS muowi Alaska Natural Gas
" Transportation System $J
Q COMMIX
j- " Smith ' .j 3 ..... umitcoi. 7f
l-'fM- 5 . .
I I ; 7..NO.T.U.! BOKOI. i fc
8..MCI.IC 01 ...
Xjt T 9--"ICIHC 0t iLICTme rm f
. i r" " 10 "" 7?f j
VvC J E DM0NTON "v,,
J)J -.ci . 7',""c CjS
I iCl ' I v STsfAUL
jf & :'v:.-"i ' X "X H(
J S FRANCISCO ' i , CHICAid
both electricity and natural
gas in California.
The Alaska natural-gas
pipeline's start has been
staJled for several months not
only over regulatory matters
but financing, with hoped for
participation by the federal
and Alaska state govern
ments. The western leg will be a
western leg facilities later for
deliveries of Alaskan North
Slope gas to California and
other western markets.
Hooker said "later" could
mean as early as 1982 or 1983.
When the work gets under way
in Morrow County, construc
tion crews would pass through
(Continued on Page X)
WATKH I'SKHS Oh'THK CITY OK HKPPNKK
Your meters have been read this month after using
in inim ii iti s through the winter. All gallonage used over
the minimum will tie reflected on your March bill.
Therefore, please expect an increase on your next
statement.
City of Heppner Water Department
Publish March 27 and April 3, 1980.
1"
Chances are good that most voters in Morrow County will be sitting in one of these chairs in
the jury box at the courthouse in Heppner especially with the addition of the district court.
dentists, teachers and other
professionals from being
called to jury duty. But there
is no automatic excuse any
more. It is up to the justice.
"It depends how( badly I
need a juror what reasons I
accept." Gray said. "Some
times I will let a sole
businessman or a farmer
during harvest not serve but
that is not always an excuse. I
need six jurors on trial day
and if I have to. I send the
sheriff downtown to pick up
people off the street to serve
on the jury.
"Now (here are going to be
three courts (when a district
court sits in Morrow County)
so chances are good people
will serve." she continued.
"Nobody is exempt, not any
more." In her budget request. Gray
estimates the number of trials
she will have the next year.
Currently, she averages 2'i a
month.
"Rverytime there is a jury
trial, it costs the taxpayers at
least $100." she said.
A juror must be at least
18-years-old and up to 70 or
older depending on the attor
neys and the judge involved.
Statutes specify the payment
of $10 a day for jurors and $5
daily for witnesses. All re
ceive eight cents a mile round
trip.
County Clerk Barbara
Bloodsworth selects the juries
for the circuit court and she
said she will use the same
process when selecting the
district court juries when it
comes to Heppner.
Each year, the county clerk,
with the sheriff observing,
selects 400 names from the list
of all the registered voters in
the county. From that list, the
clerk selects 40 to serve for a
three-month period. If a grand
jury is needed, the same list is
used. Once a persons serves
for the three months, they are
finished for the rest of the
year.
All 40 persons are sum
moned by the sheriff for every
trial. The 40 persons go to the
courtroom and have their
names drawn randomly by the
county clerk. The prospective
jurors are then questioned by
the attorneys.
Jurors are then excused for
various reasons of previous
knowledge, bias. etc. When 12
jurors are agreed on by both
attorneys, the other 40 called
are excused. All jurors are
paid even if they are not
selected.
"The circuit court judge is
the only one who can excuse
(prospective jurors)" Bloods
worth said. "People call me or
the sheriff but we can't do
anything."
Prices Effective April 34-5i
Pierce's Boneless,
Smoked, Fully Cooked
Ham
1 55
lb.
Sausage
lb. Roll
Ik
1 cvu
Tomatoes
c
Krusteaz
Pancake Mix
U39
43
56 oz.
Celery Bananas
3 lbs. for
C
ea.
Lynderi
Medium Eggs
7c do,
We have a good selection of
Easter candy, plus assorted
Easter baskets.
7
Kraft
Cheez Whiz
(QHflc
MM 8oz.
t
Baker's
Coconut
U V 8 oz.
Western Family
Mandarin
Oranges
c
11 oz.
All Grind
Coffee
3 lbs. for
S & W Pitted Ripe
Olives
a a
6 oz.
Kraft
Miniature
Marshmallows
00
10 oz.
31
galley's
f Banquet Dills
I29
46 oz.
Nalley's
Mayonnaise
.iw
MARKET
Groctry Dtpt.
676-9614
Mtot Dtpt.
676-9233