Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-11-13
FIFTEEN COUNTIES OF STATE
COME UNDER PROVISIONS OF
NEW STATUTE.
APPLIES TO COUNTIES
OF ena,nono POPULATION
These Counties Must Have Cities Of
5000 or More NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Selected Subject to Service Any Time
During ar-Professionai Jurymen
Barred.
Special to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moinss, Nov. i3.-In accordance
with the jury commission law passed
by the last general assembly the newly
appointed jury commissioners in each
of the fifteen counties of the state
coming under the Law are now doing
the preliminary work necessary to put
the full and complete working of the
law into effect Jan. !.
Monday, Nov. Is, was the day fixed
under the law for the newly appointed
commission to meet for the selection
o. jurors for the coming year. Insofar
as known here all of the fifteen coun
ties coming under the provisions OF
this law are carrying out its provisions
to the letter.
The law applies only TO counties OF
more than 10000 inhabitants in which
there is q city having a population OF
200 or more. The reason for this IS
ia the cities where trouble has hereto
fore been experienced more particular
~ IN getting juries. Hence the new law
applies to the following counties; Polk,
Woodbury. Scott, Dubuque, Linn, Black
Hawk Pottawattamie. Clinton, Dies
Moines. Webster Cerro Gordo, Mar
shall Muscatine and Lee counties.
Provisions Of Law.
The law provides that the judges Of
the district court in these counties
shall, on or before the first day OF
October of "a ch yea select jITy COM
mission of tnrea men. Mt mure than
two Of these shall i've in the CITY aLere
the court No2Sr is located.
The commission must meet on the
first Monday following the tenth day
Of November and select the names OF
persons for grand and petit jurors and
talesmen for the year beginning the
first day OF the following January. AS
to the selection of the names the Law
says:
The names Of 100 persons shall be
drawn from which the grand jurors
shall be selected: the names of q
number of persons equal to one
seventh Of the whole number OF quail
fed electors in the county who voted
at the last preceding general election
shall be drawn from which the petit
Of number of persons equal TO twenty
per cent Of the whole number of quail
fed voters shall be drawn from which
the taIesmen snail be selected
Subject TO Call During Year.
The names thus drawn will cOnsti-
tUte the grand and petty jury lists and
list of taIesmen for the coming year.
In order TO make up their lists the
county auditor furnishes the commits
SIGN with the poll books and the num-
Der OF names to be selected from each
voting precinct IN the county.
This new method Of jury selection
was adopted by the last general as
se-nbly with but little debate. However
the way had been paved by thorough
work on the part Of the state bar asso-
citation, some Of the members of which
had been working on this sort of law
for several years. Previous general as
sembIIes had turned II down.
II was claimed by the lawyers that
under the old system where election
boards certified names from each pre-
cinct for jurymen it practically placed
the selection Of the turyrnen in the
hands Of election boards whereas nde-
this new system il will place II under a
comm ssion which is appointed By the
court It was argued that in the larger
cities there were certain professional
jurymen VINO made it q business to
serve on juries. Under this new plan,
II Is claimed, the selection will be 10 ore
satisfactory.