You Have Been Excused From Jury Duty; Superior Court General Order Relieves Big Bear Residents of Jury Duty, Given Reduction in Court Hours

On Tuesday of this week, Judge James C. McGuire of the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, ruled that the Big Bear courthouse would be closed three weeks of each month, as of September 8, and that civil matters would instead be held in the Victorville District Court and that criminal matters would be redirected to the San Bernardino District, Central Court. Prior to making this decision on July 7, Judge McGuire met with representatives from the City of Big Bear Lake and reviewed over 100 written responses in opposition to the court closure. Modifications to the closure were made given these pleas; one of these allowances is that a drop box for daily filings of documents would be available at the Big Bear courthouse. And, for those who have ever been impacted by a jury summons, an additional general order from Judge McGuire should come as good news. An in-house general order of the Superior Court, obtained by KBHR, reads as follows: “I find an extreme hardship for citizens summonsed for jury service from both the Needles and Big Bear Judicial Districts and therefore excuse them from jury service on all cases except those requiring a county-wide summons of jurors.” Judge McGuire’s order further reads, “I specifically find that the transfer of these actions would cause undue hardship due to the distance which would have to be traveled to serve as a juror.” Those who wish to be called for jury duty can contact the County’s Jury Commissioner to be placed on the list for jury summons. For more on the Big Bear courthouse closure, see our July 7 story.