You may want to save your excuse if you are summoned for jury duty in Tate County.
Supervisors unanimously approved Circuit Court Clerk Eddie Hadskey’s request to raise juror pay from $30 a day to $40, plus mileage, at their recessed meeting Monday, Dec. 20. Daily juror pay is set by statute in Mississippi and ranges from a basic rate of $25 to a maximum of $40.
Hadskey said jurors in Tate County have been paid $30 a day since he took office in 1998, and the extra incentive will help when assembling a jury pool.
“We receive many calls from citizens after we mail out summons to appear for jury duty,” Hadskey explained. “The most common questions are ‘What’s the pay?’ and ‘How much money am I going to lose coming to jury duty?’”
During a recent court term, several prospective jurors stated they were the sole wage earners in the family and claimed their income would take a terrible hit if they were selected to serve, according to Hadskey. He said the decision to raise daily juror pay by $10 was made after consulting with local Circuit Court Judges Jimmy McClure and Smith Murphey.
Hadskey said 75 to 80 people is a good turnout for a jury pool, but the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected those numbers over the last two years.
The new rate for jurors, if they are called to serve, will take effect during the next term of Tate County Circuit Court at the end of January and beginning of February.
