Office of Jury Commissioner Regulations  Office of Jury Commissioner Regulation 5: Specifications of random selection methods and procedures

This regulation sets forth the random procedure and method used for the selection of prospective jurors and the method of generation of random numbers to be used by the Office of Jury Commissioner in the implementation of Chapter 234A of the Massachusetts General Laws, and, in particular, under sections thirteen and sixteen of the said chapter.

The Office of Jury Commissioner employs the Marsaglia random number generator during the annual processing of each city and town numbered resident list in preparation for prospective juror selection and master juror list creation. The random number generator algorithm generates a sequence of random numbers, and each resident on each numbered resident list is assigned a unique number from that sequence. Each numbered resident list is then randomly shuffled. Prospective jurors are then selected from each city and town in sequence. The total number of prospective jurors selected shall equal the total number specified by the Jury Commissioner in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 234A, Section 12.