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County counsel, HR clarify jury‑duty pay policy; mileage reimbursement remains with courts
Summary
Klamath County staff recommended aligning county policy with state statute: employees who receive pay from their employer while serving on jury must waive juror fees, but mileage reimbursement is not affected by that waiver.
Human resources and county counsel briefed commissioners on proposed clarifying language for the county’s jury duty pay policy and recommended aligning the policy with Oregon statute.
HR said the county’s current policy requires employees to turn over court jury payments to the county. Counsel noted Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) require jurors to waive juror fees if they are being paid by their employer while serving. Counsel also highlighted that ORS specifically preserves a juror’s claim for mileage reimbursement from the court and that mileage does not need to be turned over to the county.
Staff advised clarifying the HR policy will reduce administrative burden for finance (depositing small checks) and will reflect the statute: employees who are paid by Klamath County while on jury duty should sign the waiver so any juror fee is not paid by the court, while mileage reimbursement remains a separate claim between the juror and the court. Commissioners indicated no objection to the recommended clarification and directed staff to amend the HR policy language accordingly.
The board did not adopt a formal ordinance; the action is an instruction to HR and counsel to revise internal policy language to reflect the statute and to reduce administrative processing of juror checks.
