Governor Murphy signed Executive Order No. 411 on January 11, which restores jury service rights to more than 350,000 of the State’s residents previously ineligible for jury service because of a criminal conviction. Prior to the Executive Order, residents were ineligible for jury service if they had been convicted of an indictable offense under federal law or the law of any state.
Executive Order No. 411 specifically restores jury service rights to people who have completed their sentence for a previously disqualifying conviction under state law, including all terms of incarceration, probation, and parole supervision, as long as they are otherwise eligible to serve. The Executive Order applies to individuals whose disqualifying convictions also occurred on or before January 10, 2026, and includes service on any criminal or civil trial, as well as a grand jury.
While individuals covered by this Order will now be eligible for jury service, they still may be excluded from serving in a specific case on a case-by-case basis, including on grounds relating to their criminal record. Those with disqualifying indictable convictions under federal law or the law of another state remain ineligible to serve on juries in New Jersey, as does anyone with a disqualifying conviction in a case of impeachment or treason, since such cases are beyond the Governor’s clemency powers.
Contact: Sadayah Q. DuRant-Brown, Legislative Counsel, sdurantbrown@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.