A few things have changed since the last time I had jury duty (November 4, 2009). Mainly, the parking garage is now complete, so you really don’t have to drive around looking for a parking lot. They do give you a receipt so the maximum cost is $2.00 for the day. If you decide to park at a meter instead, PLEASE do not forget to fill it. If you get a ticket, they are quite expensive and Bexar County can do NOTHING to help you, as the meters belong to The City of San Antonio. (The judge prepping us for duty this time told us a tale of woe about a poor parker who failed to feed the meter all day.)
Second, the County no longer gives bus passes. You just bring your jury summons and that is supposed to get you a free bus trip. I did not ride the bus this time, so I did not test this out personally.
I heard from the very pleasant woman sitting next to me for part of the day, that Wednesday’s are a great day to get selected, as you almost never get chosen for a trial. Almost all the panels needed have already been selected on Monday or Tuesday. True to her word, I spent the greater part of the morning in the Legal Café talking to an out-of-state friend on my cell phone. Right before we were released for lunch, the administrators came in and told us 150 of the group of approximately 400 would be released now. I always have a gut feeling when I am going to get chosen for something. Sure enough, name number ten was mine and I had completed my jury duty for the next three years.