Louisiana law provides that a potential juror must meet certain qualifications to be eligible to serve on a jury. These requirements are that a prospective juror:

1) Must be a citizen of the United States and Louisiana and must have resided in St. Bernard Parish for at least one year before serving as a juror;

2) Must be at least 18 years old;

3) Must be able to read, write and speak the English language;

4) Must not be under interdiction or incapable of serving as a juror because of a mental or physical infirmity, provided that no person shall be deemed incompetent solely because of the loss of hearing to any degree;

5) Must not be under indictment for a felony, nor convicted of a felony for which a pardon has not been granted.

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The Louisiana Supreme Court has revised its rules as to which groups and classes of persons are exempt from jury service.

Public officers, physicians, lawyers, judges, members of the armed forces, police and fire departments, and clergy are no longer exempt.  One is exempted from jury duty only if he served less than two years prior to his next scheduled service date. 

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The names of all licensed drivers and registered voters in St. Bernard Parish are placed into the jury-management computer system operated by the Clerk of Court. The combined list is updated each year to account for address changes, name changes, additions, and deletions. The computer runs comparisons to eliminate duplicate names and then randomly selects the names of those who will be issued subpoenas to appear, upon request by the Clerk of Court.

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