Miami Walmart Shoppers Receive Jury Duty Summonses

Ottawa County deputies needed to round up a pool of jurors quickly this week, so they went to the Walmart in Miami.

The CBS affiliate in Joplin, KOAM-TV, reports the deputies gave summonses to 20 people on Tuesday.

"There is no way we can get these out by mail, get them returned, get the court clerk notified, get the judges office notified." Detective Derek Derwin told KOAM.

Read the KOAM story.

The county usually mails jury summonses, but because it needed to find prospective jurors on a short deadline, deputies decided to take this unusual step.

Derwin told KOAM citizens do not have to be registered to vote to be selected for jury duty, but must live in the county and must not have any felony convictions.

Derwin said the selection process at Walmart was completely random. He said the last time the office served summonses in public places was more than four years ago.

The response from the prospective jurors was relatively positive, Derwin said.