Title 3. Persons Specially Invested With Powers of a Judicial Nature · Chapter 1. Trial Jury Selection and Management Act · Last amended 2020 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 203 makes every person eligible for trial jury service unless one of eleven listed disqualifications applies, including age, citizenship, residency, language ability, incarceration, conservatorship, active felony supervision, or sex offender registration, and bars exclusion on any other ground.
(a)All persons are eligible and qualified to be prospective trial jurors, except the following:
(1)Persons who are not citizens of the United States.
(2)Persons who are less than 18 years of age.
(3)Persons who are not domiciliaries of the State of California, as determined pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 2020) of Chapter 1 of Division 2 of the Elections Code.
(4)Persons who are not residents of the jurisdiction wherein they are summoned to serve.
(5)Persons who have been convicted of malfeasance in office and whose civil rights have not been restored.
(6)Persons who are not possessed of sufficient knowledge of the English language, provided that no person shall be deemed incompetent solely because of the loss of sight or hearing in any degree or other disability which impedes the person’s ability to communicate or which impairs or interferes with the person’s mobility.
(7)Persons who are serving as grand or trial jurors in any court of this state.
(8)Persons who are the subject of conservatorship.
(9)Persons while they are incarcerated in any prison or jail.
(10)Persons who have been convicted of a felony and are currently on parole, postrelease community supervision, felony probation, or mandated supervision for the conviction of a felony.
(11)Persons who are currently required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 of the Penal Code based on a felony conviction.
(b)No person shall be excluded from eligibility for jury service in the State of California, for any reason other than those reasons provided by this section.
(c)The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
Plain-English Summary
Section 203 flips the usual framing: instead of listing who qualifies, it declares that all persons are eligible and qualified to serve as trial jurors, then lists the eleven categories of people who are not. Those categories include people who are not United States citizens, people under 18, people who are not California domiciliaries, people who do not live in the jurisdiction where they are summoned, people convicted of malfeasance in office whose civil rights have not been restored, and people who lack sufficient knowledge of English (a standard that does not, by itself, disqualify someone for blindness, deafness, or another disability affecting communication or mobility).
The remaining categories cover people already serving as grand or trial jurors elsewhere, people under conservatorship, people currently incarcerated, people on parole, postrelease community supervision, felony probation, or mandated supervision following a felony conviction, and people currently required to register as sex offenders based on a felony conviction.
Section 203 then closes the door on anything else: no one may be excluded from jury-service eligibility for any reason other than the eleven listed here. A severability clause keeps the rest of the section standing even if a court finds one part of it invalid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is disqualified from jury service in California?
Section 203 lists eleven categories, covering non-citizens, people under 18, non-domiciliaries, non-residents of the summoning jurisdiction, people convicted of malfeasance in office, people without sufficient English ability, people already serving as jurors elsewhere, conservatees, incarcerated people, people on active felony parole or supervision, and registered sex offenders based on a felony.
Can a court disqualify a juror for a reason not on this list?
No. Section 203(b) states that no person may be excluded from jury-service eligibility for any reason other than those the section lists.
Does a disability disqualify someone from jury service?
Not on its own. Section 203 disqualifies people lacking sufficient knowledge of English, but specifies that no one is deemed incompetent solely because of blindness, deafness, or another disability affecting communication or mobility.
Are people on probation disqualified from jury service?
Only felony probation counts under Section 203, and only while the person remains on parole, postrelease community supervision, felony probation, or mandated supervision for that felony conviction.
Is a green-card holder eligible for California jury service?
No. Section 203 disqualifies anyone who is not a citizen of the United States, regardless of immigration or residency status otherwise.
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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