COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS, AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

Fees of Jurors and Commissioners

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT REQUIREMENTS

Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted Appropriation $ 58,239,000

Fiscal Year 2024 Requested Appropriation $ 59,902,000

Requested Increase from Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted Appropriation 1,663,000

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE

COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS, AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

(P.L 117-328 - Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2023) 

 For fees and expenses of jurors as authorized by 28 U.S.C. 1871 and 1876; compensation of jury 

commissioners as authorized by 28 U.S.C. 1863; and compensation of commissioners appointed in 

condemnation cases pursuant to rule 71.1(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 U.S.C. Appendix 

Rule 71.1(h)), [$58,239,000]$59,902,000, to remain available until expended: Provided , That the 

compensation of land commissioners shall not exceed the daily equivalent of the highest rate payable 

under 5 U.S.C. 5332.

 6.1
Fiscal Year 2024 Resource Requirements:

FTEs Amount

Fiscal Year 2023 Assumed Obligations........................................................................ - $59,565

Carryforward balances ................................................................................ - (1,326)

Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted Appropriation..................................................................... - $58,239

Page

No. A. Adjustments to Base:

6.10 1. Inflationary adjustments

 a. Grand Jurors............................................................................................. - 160

 b. Petit Jurors................................................................................................. - 434

6.10 2. Projected change in available jurors

 a. Grand Jurors............................................................................................. - 113

 b. Petit Jurors................................................................................................. - 630

6.10 3. Increase in appropriation to fund current services....................................................... - 326

 Subtotal, Adjustments to Base to Maintain Current Services......................................... - 1,663

 Total Current Services Appropriation Required...................................................... - 59,902

 Total Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriation Required....................................................... - 59,902

 - 1,663

Financing the Fiscal Year 2024 Request:

 - 59,902

6.11 4. Anticipated carryforward from FY 2023 and prior years into FY 2024........................... - 1,000

Estimated Obligations, Fiscal Year 2023..................................................................... - 60,902

 Total Appropriation Change, Fiscal Year 2023 to Fiscal Year 2024..............................

Total Appropriation Required.................................................................................

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

FISCAL YEAR 2024

(Dollar amounts in thousands)

 6.2
Fiscal Year 2022 

Actual 

Fiscal Year 2023

Assumed

Fiscal Year 2024 

Request

Comparison by activities:

Land commissioners - 100 100 

Grand Jurors 13,317 15,759 15,807 

Petit Jurors 38,340 43,706 44,995 

Total Direct Obligations 51,657 59,565 60,902 

Unobligated Balance, start of year (18,812) (1,326) (1,000) 

Transfer to the Salaries and Expenses Account - - -

Anticipated Financial Plan Savings (1,333) - -

Prior Year Recoveries (235) (1,000) -

Unobligated Balance, end of year 1,326 1,000 - 

Appropriation 32,603 58,239 59,902 

Fiscal Year 2022 

Actual 

Fiscal Year 2023 

Assumed 

Fiscal Year 2024 

Request

11 Personnel compensation 24,676 27,565 29,320

21 Travel 21,207 23,237 25,625

23 Rent, communications and utilities 2,812 3,584 2,965

25 Other services 1,844 2,897 1,520

26 Supplies and materials 1,118 2,282 1,472

Total Obligations 51,657 59,565 60,902

Description

COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

Obligations by Activity ($000)

Activity

Obligations by Budget Object Class ($000)

 6.3
FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024

Actual Assumed Request

Obligations incurred 51,657 59,565 60,902

Obligated balance, start of year 2,380 2,914 3,360

Adjustment to prior year activity (448) (517) (528) 

Obligated balance, end of year (2,914) (3,360) (3,436)

Total Outlays 50,675 58,602 60,299

Less Offsets (353) (407) (417)

Net Outlays 50,322 58,195 59,883

COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

Relation of Obligations to Outlays ($000)

6.4
6.5 

GENERAL STATEMENT AND INFORMATION

This appropriation provides for the statutory fees and allowances of grand and petit jurors, and for the compensation of jury and land 

commissioners. In addition to reimbursement for daily travel to and from court, expenses allowed include meals and lodging 

furnished to sequestered jurors, and transportation to view evidence or crime scenes offsite. Budgetary requirements depend largely 

upon the volume and the length of jury trials demanded by parties to both civil and criminal actions and the number of grand juries 

convened by the courts at the request of United States Attorneys. All these factors are outside the control of the judiciary. 

The fiscal year (FY) 2024 request of $59,902,000 for the Fees of Jurors and Commissioners account will support all projected 

requirements for petit and grand jurors and land commissioners. 

Petit Jurors

A petit jury may be called to hear a trial in a criminal or civil action. A criminal trial normally has a 12-person jury, and a civil trial 

typically has a 7- to 9-person jury. Criminal juries decide whether the defendant is guilty of the crime as charged. In a civil trial, the 

jury’s responsibility is to decide whether the defendant injured or otherwise failed to fulfill a legal obligation to the plaintiff and to 

determine the appropriate compensation. Petit jurors are entitled to a daily attendance fee of $50 for each day of their jury service. 

The number of jurors called on any given day to serve in a petit jury pool is related to the number and type of cases in which a jury 

trial is requested. Moreover, under rules of criminal procedure, criminal trials are allowed additional peremptory challenges (i.e., 

exclusions of jurors from the pool without a stated reason) compared to civil trials because of the jury size. This means that the court 

must take these challenges into account when determining the number of potential jurors in a criminal jury pool. However, a 

correspondingly larger number of prospective jurors in the criminal pool will not be selected to serve on the trial due in part to the 

additional peremptory challenges. Thus, when compared to civil jury selections, the total number of prospective jurors completing 

jury service during jury selection is greater in criminal trials. 

In FY 2022, the overall number of jurors increased significantly over FY 2021, and the number of jurors is now trending back towards 

the historic average since more cases are being called following the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of available petit jurors1

in FY 2022 increased by 83.0 percent from 185,565 to 339,615. Going forward, available petit jurors are projected to increase to 

374,300 in FY 2023 and then continue increasing back to pre-pandemic levels of 417,700 in FY 2024. This trend is driven largely by 

1 An available petit juror is one that is present for selection or serving following selection.
6.6 

an estimated increase in jury trial days in FY 2023 and FY 2024. Table 6.1 on page 6.7 provides a historical pattern of the number of 

juror days, number of jurors called, and the related costs of those jurors’ expenses. 

Grand Jurors

A grand jury is a jury of inquiry whose duty is to receive complaints and accusations in criminal cases, hear the evidence presented on 

the part of the Government, and find bills of indictment in cases where the jurors are satisfied that the evidence presented is sufficient 

to warrant filing an indictment and bringing the case to trial. The number of grand juries convened by district courts varies depending 

on such factors as the number of criminal cases, the type of criminal activity, and the number of places in which court is held. Grand 

juror activity is measured by the number of sessions convened, jurors in session, and total jurors in attendance. Grand jurors are 

entitled to a daily attendance fee of $50 for each day of their jury service. 

In FY 2022, the total number of available grand jurors2 increased by 8.4 percent from 124,187 to 134,637. Although this is still much 

lower than the historic average, it reflects a significant rebound as more courts resumed normal jury operations following the 

COVID-19 pandemic. Going forward, available grand jurors are projected to increase further in FY 2023 to 144,200 and then 

continue to increase in FY 2024 to 152,600. Table 6.2 on page 6.8 provides further detail on grand jury activity. 

FISCAL YEAR 2023 APPROPRIATIONS

The judiciary built the FY 2024 budget request for the Fees of Jurors and Commissioners appropriation on the FY 2023 enacted 

appropriation, which is $58,239,000. For bill language, the judiciary used the language from P.L. 117-328, Financial Services and 

General Government Appropriations Act, 2023. 

2 An available grand juror is one that is either selected to serve or serving during a convened grand jury session. 
6.7 

Table 6.1 Petit Juror Activity

Petit Jury Trial Days Available Jurors Cost

Fiscal Year Criminal Civil Total

Percent 

Change Jurors

Percent

Change

Fees &

Expenses

Percent

Change

Actual 2013 12,730 9,207 21,937 -3.7% 448,329 -0.8% $39,398,000 1.1%

2014 11,506 9,214 20,720 -5.5% 417,285 -6.9% $37,762,000 -4.2%

2015 9,609 9,947 19,556 -5.6% 376,723 -9.7% $34,002,000 -10.0%

2016 9,327 9,179 18,506 -5.4% 368,639 -2.1% $33,898,000 -0.3%

2017 8,892 8,628 17,520 -5.3% 348,259 -5.5% $32,209,000 -5.0%

2018 9,401 7,911 17,312 -1.2% 357,004 2.5% $35,287,000 9.6%

2019

2020

9,373

4,889

7,150

3,574

16,523

8,463

-4.6%

-48.8%

349,852

182,691

-2.0%

-47.8%

$36,516,000

$21,027,000

3.5%

-42.4%

2021 5,402 3,422 8,824 4.3% 185,565 1.6% $21,507,000 2.3%

2022 9,569 7,019 16,588 88.0% 339,615 83.0% $38,340,000 78.3%

Estimated 2023 10,600 7,300 17,900 7.9% 374,300 10.2% $43,706,000 14.0%

2024 12,200 7,900 20,100 12.3% 417,700 11.6% $44,995,000 2.9%

6.9

Land Commissioners

Land commissioners are responsible for determining the issue of just compensation arising from the deprivation of private property for 

public use. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a district court may use its discretion to order that compensation for 

condemned property be determined by a commission of three persons appointed by the court. The determination of compensation is 

based on evidence presented during the exercise of trial procedures and evidentiary rulings. This delegation of the judicial function 

requires close judicial supervision and requires that actions taken by the commission be fully documented to permit full review by the 

district or appellate courts. This system ensures due process of law to the litigants.

Land commissioners are compensated based on the daily equivalent of the highest rate payable under 5 U.S.C. § 5332. They are also 

eligible for locality pay amounts that apply to their locality pay areas which are payable in addition to their basic pay. The annual 

adjusted pay rate (i.e., basic pay plus locality pay) for land commissioners is limited to the rate of pay for level III of the Executive 

Schedule, currently $187,300.
6.10

JUSTIFICATION OF CHANGES

The FY 2024 appropriation request for Fees of Jurors and 

Commissioners totals $59,902,000, which represents an increase 

of $1,663,000, or 2.9 percent, above the FY 2023 enacted 

appropriation of $58,239,000. The amount requested is for 

adjustments to base to maintain current services. 

A. ADJUSTMENTS TO BASE TO MAINTAIN

 CURRENT SERVICES

1. Inflationary adjustments 

a. Grand Jurors 

Requested Increase: $160,000 

An increase of $160,000 is requested for inflationary 

adjustments associated with grand juror costs, including travel 

allowances (mileage, parking, tolls), meals and lodging for 

sequestered jurors, and other miscellaneous juror expenses.

b. Petit Jurors

Requested Increase: $434,000 

An increase of $434,000 is requested for inflationary increases 

associated with petit juror costs, including travel allowances

(mileage, parking, tolls), meals and lodging for sequestered 

jurors, and other miscellaneous juror expenses. 

2. Projected change in available jurors 

a. Grand Jurors

Requested Increase: $113,000 

An increase of $113,000 is the result of a projected increase in 

the estimated number of available grand jurors from FY 2023 to 

FY 2024. 

b. Petit Jurors 

Requested Increase: $630,000 

An increase of $630,000 is the result of a projected increase in 

the estimated number of available petit jurors from FY 2023 to 

FY 2024. 

3. Increase in appropriation needed to fund current services

Requested Increase: $326,000 

In FY 2023, $1.3 million in balances from FY 2022 and prior 

years is available to finance FY 2023 requirements. The 

judiciary expects to obligate all of this funding in FY 2023. 

Because the judiciary anticipates having $0.3 million less in 

carryforward funding in FY 2024, it requests $0.3 million more 

to maintain current services. 
6.11

FINANCING THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 REQUEST

4. Anticipated carryforward from FY 2023 and prior years into 

FY 2024

Estimated funds available: $1,000,000

The judiciary projects $1,000,000 will be available through 

anticipated savings to carry forward from FY 2023 and prior 

years to offset the FY 2024 appropriations request for the Fees 

of Jurors account. The judiciary will advise the appropriations 

subcommittee staff of any changes to this estimate.