The court shall seat a jury of not fewer than six and not more than twelve members and all jurors shall participate in the verdict unless excused from service by the court pursuant to Rule 47.04. Unless otherwise provided by law or the parties otherwise stipulate, (1) the verdict shall be unanimous and (2) no verdict shall be taken from a jury reduced in size to fewer than six members.
Rule 48.Number of Jurors; Participation in Verdict
Last amended January 1, 1999 · Last verified July 1, 2026
In one sentenceRule 48 sets the size of a civil jury at six to twelve members and requires a unanimous verdict from at least six jurors unless the law or the parties agree otherwise.
Full Text of Rule 48
Advisory Committee Comments
Amendment History
- (Amended effective January 1, 1999.)
Plain-English Summary
Rule 48 fixes the basic mechanics of a civil jury. The court must seat a jury of not fewer than six and not more than twelve people, and every juror who remains on the panel participates in the verdict unless that juror has been excused from service under Rule 47.04. This gives courts some flexibility in jury size while setting firm outer limits.
Unless a law says otherwise or the parties agree to something different, two default rules apply. First, the verdict must be unanimous, meaning every remaining juror has to agree. Second, no verdict can be taken from a jury that has shrunk to fewer than six members, even if jurors were excused along the way for illness or other good cause. This protects the reliability of the verdict by making sure a minimum number of jurors participated in reaching it.
Because parties can stipulate around both the unanimity requirement and other jury-size defaults, this rule leaves room for the parties to agree, for example, to accept a verdict from fewer jurors or a non-unanimous verdict, if that suits their case.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people sit on a civil jury in Minnesota?
The court seats a jury of not fewer than six and not more than twelve members.
Does every juror have to agree on the verdict?
Unless the law provides otherwise or the parties stipulate otherwise, the verdict must be unanimous.
What happens if jurors are excused during the trial and the jury shrinks?
All remaining jurors participate in the verdict unless excused under Rule 47.04, but no verdict can be taken from a jury that has been reduced to fewer than six members, unless the parties have stipulated otherwise.
Can the parties agree to different jury rules than the default?
Yes, the unanimity requirement and the minimum-size rule for taking a verdict both apply only unless otherwise provided by law or unless the parties stipulate otherwise.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure (Minn. R. Civ. P. 48). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 480.051). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: jury sizeunanimous verdict rule
Advisory Committee Comment - 1998 Amendments
This rule requires the court to permit all jurors to participate in deliberations. Rule 47.02 is abrogated to abolish alternate jurors, and Rule 48 expressly provides that all jurors participate in the deliberations. The rule prohibits a verdict from a jury of fewer than six jurors, unless the parties agree to a lesser number. The rule does not provide any constraints on what size jury is appropriate in any particular case. Practical considerations of cost, courtroom design, and imposition on potential jurors as well as those seated may militate toward a jury of six. Where the trial is likely to be long, or where other considerations make it likely that jurors will need to be
excused from service, more than six jurors should be seated. The rule also permits a twelve-person jury as was historically used in civil trials. Juries of twelve significantly reduce the likelihood of unusual or aberrant jury verdicts, and should be considered where the issues are unusually complex or important, or present difficult fact-finding challenges to the jury. See generally Developments in the Law - The Civil Jury, 110 Harv.L.Rev. 1408, 1468-80 (1997). This rule expressly mandates seating a jury of from six to twelve jurors. Seating a larger jury is not provided for, and should be considered only in very unusual circumstances where more than six jurors are likely to be excused, making it inevitable that fewer than six will remain. Rather than risk a mistrial in that situation, the court should seek a stipulation of the parties that a verdict may be taken from a jury smaller than six. See generally Manual for Complex Litigation section 22.41 and n.408 (3rd ed. 1995). It may be permissible to seat a jury of larger than twelve, so long as twelve or fewer remain for deliberations, but there is no clear authority or precedent for this. If the parties stipulate to a larger jury, it should certainly not be error to seat one. The last sentence of the rule requires a verdict to be unanimous unless there is an agreement to a less-than- unanimous verdict or it is otherwise provided by law. Both the Minnesota Constitution and statutory law allow verdicts in civil cases, even without stipulation of the parties, to be returned by 5/6ths of the jurors after six hours of deliberations. See Minn. Const. art. I, section 4 and Minnesota Statutes section 546.17 (1996). Where jury of more than six, but fewer than twelve, jurors deliberates, a 6/7ths, 7/8ths, 8/9ths, 9/10ths or 10/11ths verdict is permitted. For a twelve-person jury, ten of the twelve jurors (the equivalent of 5/6ths) can return a verdict.