East Los Angeles Courthouse

I had jury duty here today and thought I'd share my experience with anyone else who gets called and is curious about what it's like.

They said they were doing things differently now since the pandemic, and were calling people to report at different times of day for specific trials, rather than simply having hundreds of people report early in the morning and waiting there all day, so I was to report at 12:30pm. The room we were in while we waited wasn't terribly large, and maybe would have fit between 50-100 people if it had been full, but there were probably only about 30 of us there (I have no pictures as they were forbidden).

There was ample comfortable seating there for everyone, and there also was a free parking structure maybe 100 feet from the entrance to the courthouse. You had to empty your pockets and go through the metal detector, but we got to keep our shoes and belts on, and you are allowed to bring in food and drinks, although they do have vending machines and a water fountain there. There were two individual use bathrooms in the jury room for people to use, which were private and comfortable.

They had us wait there until about 3:30 (so three hours, give or take), and then they said the trial we were waiting on had got a continuance, so we were all let go, having completed our service, so I can't tell you anything about what it's like if you get called. They did tell us that they no longer hear any excuses for absences in the jury room, and that you have to wait to explain your situation to the judges now, but like I said, it never got to that point with any of us as nobody was called and we were all let go.

All in all it was probably the easiest and best jury duty time I've ever had. I've also served jury duty at LA metro downtown and in Orange County in Santa Ana, and this was definitely the best. Hope you get as lucky as I did!