(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), when an action is called for trial by jury, the clerk shall randomly select the names of the jurors for voir dire, until the jury is selected or the panel is exhausted.
§ 222.Selection for voir dire
Title 3. Persons Specially Invested With Powers of a Judicial Nature · Chapter 1. Trial Jury Selection and Management Act · Last amended 2008 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 222 requires the court, once the jury commissioner has provided a randomly ordered trial jury panel list, to seat prospective jurors for voir dire in the order that list provides.
Full Text of § 222
(b) When the jury commissioner has provided the court with a listing of the trial jury panel in random order, the court shall seat prospective jurors for voir dire in the order provided by the panel list.
Plain-English Summary
Section 222 governs the sequence in which prospective jurors move from the panel into the jury box for voir dire. Once the jury commissioner has given the court a listing of the trial jury panel arranged in random order, the court must seat prospective jurors for voir dire in that same order.
Following the commissioner’s random ordering, rather than letting the court or counsel pick and choose who gets called first, keeps the selection process consistent with the Act’s underlying commitment to random jury selection.
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.
2007 Law Revision Commission Comment. Section 222 is amended to delete unnecessary language authorizing the judge to substitute for the clerk if there is no clerk. See Code Civ. Proc. § 167 (judge may perform any act court clerk may perform); Gov’t Code §§ 69840- 69848 (duties of clerk of superior court), 71620(b) (executive or administrative officer has authority of clerk of court).
Frequently Asked Questions
In what order are jurors called for voir dire in California?
Section 222 requires the court to seat prospective jurors in the order set out on the jury commissioner’s randomly ordered panel list.
Can the court call jurors out of order during voir dire?
No. Once the jury commissioner has provided a random-order panel list, § 222 requires the court to follow that order.
Who creates the random order that Section 222 requires the court to follow?
The jury commissioner provides the court with the trial jury panel listing already arranged in random order.
Amendment History
Added Stats 1988 ch 1245 § 2. Amended Stats 2007 ch 263 § 4 (AB 310), effective January 1, 2008.
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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