Note: My service on this jury is complete as of June 2019.

Ever been on a jury? How about a Grand Jury? What's the difference? Well, if you are ever lucky enough to get a Grand Jury summons, and make the cut, you'll find out. A Grand Jury assignment lasts for 18 months, with a one or two day meeting each month.

I made the cut as an alternate in January 2018. I figured as an out of towner, I might never catch the fulltime gig. This held true until July. One of the original jurors had a health issue, so I caught their seat for the remaining months.

Since the Federal Court is in Spokane and I live about 75 miles away, my plan was to drive up the afternoon prior to service, spend the night, and then walk over to the court each Tuesday (first Tuesday of each month). Especially in the Winter months, this arrangement eliminated the need to get up at the crack of dawn and drive in the snow.

Side bonus - I live in a really small town. Visiting Spokane once a month isn't the worst thing to have to do. I tried really hard to make this a positive experience. So I stayed at the Davenport Tower most months. Nice place, walking distance to nice restaurants, and I could leave my car in their garage until the court released me on Tuesday.

So what does a Grand Jurist do? Well, it had nothing to do with active trials like the typical county jury duty. The panel of jurists (usually around 21, 16 are needed for a quorum) hears Federal prosecutors present evidence of a Federal crime. If the jury agrees that there is evidence of a crime, they vote affirmatively. Each prosecutor typically has a law enforcement officer present the evidence. THe prosecutor outlines the Federal statues, and what the law requires.

After several months, a pattern develops, and many of the same prosecutors and law enforcement officials return each month. Many are specialists in certain types of federal offenses. The most common are drugs, guns, violence, child pornography, immigration, and drugs. Sometimes combinations of those things.

Much like trial jury service, you quickly realize that people caught up in this activity are really in trouble. The quantity of some of these crimes is really unfortunate. And sad.