COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS, AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

Fees of Jurors and Commissioners

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT REQUIREMENTS

Fiscal Year 2021 Enacted Appropriation $ 32,517,000

Fiscal Year 2022 Requested Appropriation $ 53,690,000

Requested Increase from Fiscal Year 2021 Assumed Appropriation 21,173,000

APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE

COURTS OF APPEALS, DISTRICT COURTS, AND OTHER JUDICIAL SERVICES

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

 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)), [$32,517,000]$53,690,000, 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.

(P.L. 116-260 - Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2021)

6.1
Fiscal Year 2022 Resource Requirements:

FTEs Amount

Fiscal Year 2021 Assumed Obligations........................................................................ - $52,364

Carryforward balances ................................................................................ - (19,847)

Fiscal Year 2021 Enacted Appropriation..................................................................... - $32,517

No. A. Adjustments to Base:

6.10 1. Inflationary adjustments

a. Grand Jurors............................................................................................. - 274

b. Petit Jurors................................................................................................. - 370

6.10 2. Projected change in available jurors

a. Grand Jurors............................................................................................. - 1,551

b. Petit Jurors................................................................................................. - (1,983)

6.10 3. Increase in appropriation to fund current services....................................................... - 20,961

 Subtotal, Adjustments to Base to Maintain Current Services......................................... - 21,173

 Total Current Services Appropriation Required...................................................... - 53,690

 Total Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriation Required....................................................... - 53,690

- 21,173

Financing the Fiscal Year 2022 Request:

- 53,690

6.11 4. Anticipated carryforward from FY 2021 and prior years into FY 2022........................... - 3,000

Estimated Obligations, Fiscal Year 2022..................................................................... - 56,690

SUMMARY OF REQUEST

FEES OF JURORS AND COMMISSIONERS

FISCAL YEAR 2022

(Dollar amounts in thousands)

 Total Appropriation Change, Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2022..............................

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

6.2
Fiscal Year 2020 

Actual 

FY 2021

Assumed 

Obligations/

Appropriation

Fiscal Year 2022 

Request

Comparison by activities:

Land commissioners 7 100 100 

Grand Jurors 11,483 16,318 19,082 

Petit Jurors 21,027 35,946 37,508 

Total Direct Obligations 32,517 52,364 56,690 

Unobligated Balance, start of year (161) (19,847) (3,000) 

Transfer to the Salaries and Expenses Account 2,677 - -

Anticipated Financial Plan Savings - (2,847) -

Prior Year Recoveries (1,335) (153) -

Unobligated Balance, end of year 19,847 3,000 - 

Appropriation 53,545 32,517 53,690 

Fiscal Year 2020 

Actual 

Fiscal Year 2021 

Assumed 

Obligations 

Fiscal Year 2022 

Request

11 Personnel compensation 15,763 23,368 26,972

21 Travel 13,527 23,321 23,929

23 Rent, communications and utilities 1,880 2,825 2,881

25 Other services 372 1,448 1,477

26 Supplies and materials 975 1,403 1,431

Total obligations 32,517 52,364 56,690

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 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Actual Assumed Request

Obligations

Obligations incurred 32,517 52,364 56,690

Obligated balance, start of year 3,050 1,941 1,185

Adjustment to prior year activity (799) (1,287) (1,393) 

Obligated balance, end of year (1,941) (1,185) (1,283)

Total Outlays 32,827 51,833 55,199

Less Offsets (537) (864) (935)

Net Outlays 32,290 50,969 54,264

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) 2022 request of $53,690,000 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 committed 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 what the compensation should be. 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 2020, the overall number of jurors decreased sharply due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of 

available petit jurors1

 in FY 2020 decreased by 47.8 percent from 349,852 to 182,691. Going forward, however, available petit jurors 

are projected to increase to 358,000 in FY 2021 and then decrease again slightly to 352,000 in FY 2022. This trend is driven largely 

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

by an estimated increase in jury trial days in FY 2021 and then a decline in FY 2022. 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. 

As stated above, the overall number of jurors decreased sharply in FY 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 

FY 2020, the total number of available grand jurors2 decreased by 35.8 percent from 183,196 to 117,549. Going forward, available 

grand jurors are projected to increase in FY 2021 to 186,000 and then continue to increase in FY 2022 to 188,000. Table 6.2 on page 

6.8 provides further detail on grand jury activity. 

FISCAL YEAR 2021 APPROPRIATIONS

The judiciary built the FY 2022 discretionary budget request for the Fees of Jurors and Commissioners appropriation on the FY 2021 

enacted appropriation of $32,517,000. This amount takes into consideration the carryforward balances in the Jurors account at the 

close of FY 2020 and when added to the enacted appropriation would maintain current services in FY 2021 for this account. For bill 

language, the judiciary used the language from P.L. 116-260, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2021. 

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 2011 12,714 11,222 23,936 0.1% 469,199 -2.9% $37,909,000 -19.4%

2012 12,679 10,099 22,778 -4.8% 451,989 -3.7% $38,956,000 2.8%

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%

Estimated 2021 8,900 7,100 16,000 89.1% 358,000 96.0% $38,972,000 85.3%

2022 8,600 6,600 15,200 -5.0% 352,000 -1.7% $37,508,000 -3.8%
6.8

Table 6.2 Grand Jury Activity

Total Number of Grand Jurors Available Jurors Cost

Fiscal Year Sessions 

Convened

Percent 

Change

Jurors in 

Session

Percent 

Change

Hours in 

Session Jurors

Percent 

Change

Fees & 

Expenses

Percent 

Change

Actual 2012 9,083 -2.1% 182,106 -2.1% 43,083 200,362 -1.5% $16,288,000 -7.7%

2013 8,923 -1.8% 179,076 -1.7% 41,477 196,540 -1.9% $16,097,000 -1.2%

2014 8,230 -7.8% 164,856 -7.9% 36,719 181,437 -7.7% $14,406,000 -10.5%

2015 8,087 -1.8% 161,493 -2.0% 36,098 177,720 -2.0% $14,495,000 0.1%

2016 8,249 2..0% 164,733 2.0% 36,621 180,709 1.7% $14,608,000 0.8%

2017 8,124 -1.5% 161,759 -1.8% 35,823 177,027 -2.0% $13,888,000 -4.9%

2018 8,258 1.6% 163,859 1.3% 36,458 179,740 1.5% $14,966,000 7.8%

2019 8,374 1.4% 167,310 2.1% 36,706 183,196 1.9% $16,948,000 13.2%

2020 5,449 -34.9% 107,489 -35.8% 24,940 117,549 -35.8% $11,483,000 -32.2%

Estimated 2021 8,000 46.8% 168,400 57.6% 35,100 186,000 58.2% $17,406,000 51.6% 

2022 7,900 -1.3% 171,100 1.0% 34,500 188,000 1.1% $19,082,000 9.6% 

Average Number of Total Number of Grand Juries

Fiscal Year Jurors per 

Session

Hours per 

Session

In Existence at the 

beginning of the 

Fiscal Year

Impaneled Discharged

2011 20.0 4.70 458 341 263

2012 20.1 4.60 462 321 247

2013 20.0 4.60 460 318 267

2014 20.0 4.50 440 323 242

2015 15.9 3.60 439 312 255

2016 20.0 4.40 417 326 248

2017 19.9 4.40 433 322 240

2018 19.8 4.40 440 315 217

2019 20.0 4.40 434 315 213

2020 19.7 4.60 448 203 173
6.9

Land Commissioners

The responsibility of land commissioners is to determine 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 $183,300. 
6.10

JUSTIFICATION OF CHANGES

The FY 2022 appropriation request for Fees of Jurors and 

Commissioners totals $53,690,000, which represents an increase 

of $21,173,000, or 65.1 percent, above the FY 2021 enacted 

appropriation of $32,517,000. 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: $274,000 

An increase of $274,000 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: $370,000 

An increase of $370,000 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: $1,551,000 

An increase of $1,551,000 is the result of a projected increase in 

the estimated number of available grand jurors from FY 2021 to 

FY 2022. 

b. Petit Jurors

Requested Decrease: ($1,983,000) 

A decrease of $1,983,000 is the result of the projected decrease 

in the estimated number of available petit jurors from FY 2021 

to FY 2022. 

3. Increase in appropriation needed to fund current services

Requested Increase: $20,961,000 

The FY 2021 financial plan was financed in part with the 

historically large carryforward balances from FY 2020 due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic, as well as some prior year recoveries. In 

FY 2021, an assumption was made that juror activity would 

likely be less than the forecasted; therefore, additional savings in 

this account were factored into the final financial plan. The 

judiciary requests an increase in appropriated funds in FY 2022 

to replace these non-appropriated funds in order to maintain the 

same level of service provided in FY 2021. 
6.11

FINANCING THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 REQUEST

4. Anticipated carryforward from FY 2021 and prior years into

FY 2022

Estimated funds available: $3,000,000 

The judiciary projects $3,000,000 will be available through 

anticipated savings to carry forward from FY 2021 and prior 

years to offset the FY 2022 appropriations request for the Fees 

of Jurors account. The judiciary will advise the appropriations 

subcommittee staff of any changes to this estimate.