(a) Juror note taking. — At the beginning of civil trials, the court shall instruct the jurors that they will be permitted to take notes during the trial if they wish to do so. The court shall provide each juror with appropriate materials for this purpose and shall give jurors appropriate instructions about procedures for note taking and restrictions on jurors’ use of their notes. The jurors may take their notes with them for use during court recesses and deliberations, but jurors shall not be permitted to take their notes out of the courthouse. The bailiff or clerk shall collect all jurors’ notes at the end of each day of trial and shall return jurors’ notes when trial resumes. After the trial has concluded and the jurors have completed their deliberations, the bailiff or clerk shall collect all jurors’ notes before the jurors are excused. The bailiff or clerk shall promptly destroy these notes.
Rule 39.1.Jury trial; jury note taking; juror notebooks
Group VI: Trials · Last amended March 1, 2017 · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 39.1 lets jurors take notes during civil trials and, at the court's option, gives them shared notebooks to organize trial materials, with strict limits on what leaves the courthouse.
Full Text of Rule 39.1
(b) Juror notebooks. — The court may provide all jurors with identical “Juror Notebooks” to assist the jurors in organizing materials the jurors receive at trial. Typical contents of a juror notebook include blank paper for note taking, stipulations of the parties, lists or seating charts identifying counsel and their respective clients, general instructions for jurors, and pertinent case specific instructions. Notebooks may also include copies of important exhibits (which may be highlighted), glossaries of key technical terms, pictures of witnesses, and a copy of the court’s juror handbook, if one is available. During the trial, the materials in the juror notebooks may be supplemented with additional materials as they become relevant and are approved by the court for inclusion. Copies of any additional jury instructions given to jurors during trial or before closing arguments should also be included in juror notebooks before the jurors retire to deliberate. The trial court should generally resolve with counsel at a pretrial conference whether juror notebooks will be used and, if so, what contents will be included. The trial court may require that counsel meet in advance of the pretrial conference to confer and attempt to agree on the contents of the notebooks. The jurors may take their notebooks with them for use during court recesses and deliberations, but jurors shall not be permitted to take their notebooks out of the courthouse. The bailiff or clerk shall collect all jurors’ notebooks at the end of each day of trial and shall return jurors’ notebooks when trial resumes. After the trial has concluded and the jurors have completed their deliberations, the bailiff or clerk shall collect all jurors’ notebooks before the jurors are excused. The bailiff or clerk shall promptly destroy the contents of the notebooks, except that one copy of the contents of the juror notebooks, excluding jurors’ personal notes and annotations, shall be preserved and retained as part of the official trial record.
Amendment History
Added February 2, 2017, effective March 1, 2017.
Plain-English Summary
Under Rule 39.1(a), the judge tells jurors at the start of trial that they may take notes if they want to, and the court supplies the paper and instructions on how notes can be used. Jurors can carry their notes into recesses and deliberations, but never out of the courthouse. The bailiff or clerk gathers the notes at the end of each trial day, hands them back when trial resumes, and collects them one last time once deliberations end — then destroys them.
Rule 39.1(b) adds an optional tool: identical juror notebooks holding stipulations, seating charts, instructions, and other approved materials, updated as the trial goes on. The judge and counsel typically work out at a pretrial conference whether to use notebooks and what belongs in them. Like personal notes, notebooks stay in the courthouse and get collected daily and after deliberations. The contents are destroyed afterward, except that one clean copy — without any juror's personal notes or markings — is kept as part of the official trial record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are jurors required to take notes during a Wyoming civil trial?
No. The court tells jurors they may take notes if they wish, but nothing in Rule 39.1 requires it.
Can a juror take trial notes home?
No. Jurors may use their notes during recesses and deliberations, but the rule bars taking notes out of the courthouse at any point.
What happens to juror notes after the trial ends?
The bailiff or clerk collects all notes once deliberations are complete, before jurors are excused, and then promptly destroys them.
What goes into a juror notebook?
Typical contents include blank paper, stipulations, lists of counsel and clients, general and case-specific instructions, exhibit copies, glossaries, witness photos, and the court's juror handbook if one exists.
Is any part of a juror notebook kept after trial?
Yes. One copy of the notebook contents, excluding any juror's personal notes or annotations, is preserved as part of the official trial record even after the rest is destroyed.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Wyoming. Last verified July 14, 2026. ·
Official source
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