(The Center Square) – Pierce County has launched a pilot program to pay jury members $100 per day of service plus mileage reimbursement.
The pay increase replaces the $10 traditionally paid to jurors in Pierce County. The goal is to measure whether higher juror pay reduces barriers to jury participation and, in turn, improves diversity.
Laurie Louise Sale, a court program analyst for the Administrative Office of the Courts, told The Center Square that an increase in jury pay is well overdue.
“The last time it was looked at was 1959 and that rate hasn’t changed since then,” she said. “That’s when the average cost of a house was $12,400, and gas was 25 cents a gallon, so this is a real sea change.”
Sale said the increase in jury pay is meant to encourage more people to agree to jury duty when they receive a summons.
“It is difficult to get folks in to do jury duty for financial reasons, or childcare or transportation, so there are several barriers that keep people from coming in,” said Sale, who noted the additional pay incentive should help alleviate the financial burden of jury duty.
“Say you’re called to do jury duty for a week; you’re looking at a difference of making $50 for your time versus $500 for your time, and that’s a significant difference,” she explained.
According to a news release from Washington Courts, the AOC has partnered with Pierce County on the pilot project that will survey jurors to measure the impact of increased pay and demographics of jury members during the trial program which runs through May 2025.
The Legislature appropriated nearly $1.6 million to Pierce County for the pilot program. The county will continue to pay jurors $10 per day, with the state funding $90.
The effort dates back to 2021 when legislators passed a measure requiring the AOC to provide all courts with an electronic demographic survey of jurors.
The goal was to collect data on each juror’s race, ethnicity, age, sex, employment status, education and income.
The assessment was aimed at determining whether jury members are representative of the county where they are selected, which is referenced in the Sixth Amendment pertaining to perceived legitimacy and fairness in the courts.
Data was collected over a 17-month period in 2022 and 2023 and then compiled in a study conducted by Seattle University in partnership with the Minority and Justice Commission.
An executive summary of the findings indicated that combined household income was a significant indicator of a potential juror’s ability to participate.
Among those responding to jury summons, Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native survey respondents were generally underrepresented. Nearly two-thirds of all survey respondents indicated experiencing a conflict or hardship that presented a barrier to participating in jury service.
The Supreme Court Minority and Justice Commission will present a report on the pilot project’s findings to the 2026 legislature for consideration in expanding the initiative.
This increased pay is available to all jurors who serve in Pierce County Superior Court, District Court, as well as Tacoma Municipal Court.
“We’re hopeful this can expand statewide, and just since launching on Monday, we are already seeing a great response, so that is the ultimate goal,” Sale said.
