Location of Courts and Commissioner of Jurors Office:
Our court facility is located in Mayville,  New York, which is  the County Seat.  Mayville is situated on the north end of beautiful Chautauqua Lake.

The Commissioner of Jurors Office is located on the second floor of the Gerace Office Building which is the county office building attached to the Courthouse. The address for the  Commissioner of Jurors Office is 3 North Erie Street, P.O. Box 293, Mayville, New York 14757.   The phone number is (716)753-4410 and the fax number is (716)753-4419.  Normal business hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Summer business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  (The office is closed on all recognized New York State Holidays).

Telephone Standby:
All summoned trial jurors are on a telephone standby system.  Jurors are required to call  after 5:00 p.m. on the evening  before their scheduled service. If your scheduled reporting day is a Monday, the message is available all weekend long. The telephone number is (716) 753-4260.  Occasionally, a trial may settle or be canceled and reporting is not necessary.

Current reporting information is also available by clicking on  SUMMONED JUROR INFORMATION on the Home page.

Grand Jurors are not required to call the recorded jury standby system and are required to report as summoned.

Absence/Emergency:
If an illness or emergency prevents you from reporting, please call our office at (716) 753-4410 or 753-4495 at 9:00 a.m. on the day you are to report.

Court Hours:
Court normally operates from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except on the first day of service which commences at 9:00 a.m.  There is a mid-morning break, a lunch break and a mid-afternoon break.  Court sessions usually do not go beyond 4:30 p.m. except when juries are deliberating.

Security Check-In:
Most often summoned jurors report to the second floor of the Courthouse.  Jurors should read their summons to determine their exact reporting location.   Summoned Jurors are required to go through Security on the second floor of the Courthouse or the second floor of the Gerace Office Building. You will be required to walk through a magnetometer.  Weapons of any kind are not permitted in the court facility.

Attendance:
Once you have cleared through the metal detector by security you will be directed to a courtroom.  You will be given a clipboard with a packet of information and the following forms to complete:

Juror Information Form:
Information requested on this form is to determine what Jurors are eligible for pay from New York State.  After all jurors have arrived and attendance has been taken, the Commissioner will give you a brief overview of what you can expect for jury selection.  A movie will then be shown before jurors are turned over to Court Personnel for the actual jury selection process.

Voir Dire Questionnaire:
This form is designed to assist counsel and the court in selecting fair and impartial jurors.  

Juror Exit Questionnaire - Upstate New York:
This form is a confidential exit questionnaire regarding your experience as a juror. 

Meals:
You will be on your own for meals during jury selections and jury trials.  There are vending machines located in the sub-basement of the Gerace Office building.  There are also restaurants within walking distance.

Length of Service:

Trial Jurors: You are summoned to serve for one day/one trial.  If you are selected and sworn as a trial juror please note the average length of a jury trial in a criminal case is 2 to 3 days, and in a civil case, 3 to 5 days.

Grand Jurors: Individuals who have been summoned for Grand Jury should be prepared, if chosen, to serve a term of approximately 2 months.  During this time you will serve approximately one day per week, usually on  Wednesdays.  This schedule may change if required by the needs of the courts.

Jury Pay:
This will be detailed further within the information packet provided upon arrival for jury selection, however, to briefly summarize, pursuant to Judiciary Law §519, if you are employed and your employer employs more than 10 people, your employer is responsible for jury pay of $40.00 per day, up to three days.  Any salary paid above $40.00 is optional by the employer as they are not mandated by law  to do so.  All other individuals including, unemployed,  retired or individuals whose employer has 10 or fewer employees, will be paid by New York State check for your jury service.  Checks are issued out of Albany and will take several weeks to process.

Jurors with Disabilities:
If you have a disability and need special accommodations, you should call our office at 753-4410 as soon as you receive your summons. Let us know the nature of your disability, and we will try to be as helpful as possible.