A. Availability of Party or Counsel During Jury Deliberations. During jury deliberations, counsel and self-represented litigants shall keep the court informed of their location and shall keep themselves available on short notice personally or by telephone, as ordered by the court.

   B. Absence of Party or Counsel on Receipt of Verdict. Unless otherwise requested, the court will not deem it necessary in civil cases that any party be present in person or by counsel when the jury returns to the courtroom with its verdict.

   C. Presence of Defendant in Criminal Cases. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, all defendants in criminal cases shall, during the deliberations of the jury, remain in the building in which trial was held.

   D. Six-Person Jury. Civil cases may be tried to a six-person jury by stipulation of the parties and approval by the court.

   E. Jury Impanelment; Divisions of Court; Priority. For the purpose of jury trials, the court shall be divided into two groups, Panel A and Panel B, each of which may conduct jury trials during each month of the year. Judges assigned to Panel A shall impanel juries generally during the first two weeks of each month, and judges assigned to Panel B shall impanel juries generally during the last two weeks of each month. If the need arises for a judge to impanel a jury other than during the assigned month, the judge shall communicate such need to the presiding judge. The presiding judge shall then make a determination whether the judge's request to impanel a jury other than during the scheduled two-week period should be granted. Unless otherwise directed to do so by the presiding judge, the Clerk of the District Court shall provide no jurors to a judge other than during that assigned judge's scheduled two-week period.

   F. Inadequate Number of Jurors. When there is not a sufficient number of jurors immediately available, the Clerk of the District Court shall give priority to those courts trying criminal matters.

Adopted effective December 29, 1995; amended effective June 25, 1999; amended September 21, 2022.