In any superior court, a separate trial jury panel may be drawn, summoned, and impaneled for each judge, or any one panel may be drawn, summoned, and impaneled by any one of the judges, for use in the trial of cases before any of the judges, as occasion may require. In those courts, when a panel of jurors is in attendance for service before one or more of the judges, whether impaneled for common use or not, the whole or any number of the jurors from such panel may be required to attend and serve in the trial of cases, or to complete a panel, or jury, before any other of the judges.
§ 201.Separate trial jury panel
Title 3. Persons Specially Invested With Powers of a Judicial Nature · Chapter 1. Trial Jury Selection and Management Act · Last amended 2002 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 201 lets a superior court maintain one or more trial jury panels whose members can be called to serve, or to complete a panel, before any of the court’s judges rather than being tied to a single judge.
Full Text of § 201
Plain-English Summary
Section 201 addresses how a court with more than one judge shares its trial jury pool. Rather than assigning a separate panel to every individual judge, the court can maintain a panel whose members may be required to attend and serve in the trial of cases, or to complete a panel or jury, before any of the court’s other judges.
That flexibility helps a court move jurors to wherever a trial is starting, instead of leaving one department short-handed while another sits with an unused panel.
Official Comment
The following official comments are published by the California Law Revision Commission (and, for a few older sections, its predecessor Code Commissioners) alongside the statute itself — not commentary from this site.
2002 Law Revision Commission Comment. Section 201 is amended to reflect unification of the municipal and superior courts pursuant to Article VI, Section 5(e), of the California Constitution. The section is also amended to reflect the fact that every superior court has at least two judgeships as a result of trial court unification. See Gov C § 69580 et seq. (number of judges).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are trial jury panels assigned to one judge only?
Not necessarily. Section 201 allows the whole panel, or any number of its jurors, to serve in trials before any of the court’s judges.
Why does Section 201 matter for a court with multiple judges?
It lets the court share a single jury panel across departments, filling out panels or juries wherever a trial needs jurors rather than keeping panels siloed by judge.
Does Section 201 apply to single-judge courts?
Its purpose is aimed at courts with more than one judge, since it addresses jurors from one panel serving before any of the court’s other judges.
Amendment History
Added Stats 1988 ch 1245 § 2. Amended Stats 2002 ch 784 § 47 (SB 1316).
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
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