Rule Text
A. Except as otherwise provided by R.S. 13:3105 et seq., when the case has been set for trial, the court shall fix the amount of the bond to cover all costs estimated by the court related to the trial by jury and shall fix the time for filing the bond, which shall be no later than sixty days prior to trial. Notice of the fixing of the bond shall be served on all parties. If the bond is not filed timely, any other party shall have an additional ten days to file the bond.
B. When the bond has been filed, the clerk of court shall order the jury commission to draw a sufficient number of jurors to try and determine the cause, such drawing to be made in accordance with R.S. 13:3044.
Amendment history: Acts 1987, No. 148, §1; Acts 1995, No. 148, §1; Acts 2005, No. 28, §1; Acts 2021, No. 382, §1.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When a case is going to trial by jury, the court has to set an amount of money (called a bond) to cover the costs of having a jury. This bond pays for expenses like summoning jurors and running the jury trial process. The court also sets a deadline for paying this bond, and that deadline must be at least 60 days before the trial starts.
Everyone involved in the case gets notified once the court sets the bond amount and deadline. If the person responsible for paying misses the deadline, another party in the case gets an extra 10 days to pay it instead. This gives some flexibility so the case doesn't get delayed just because of a missed payment deadline.
Once someone pays the bond, the court clerk tells the jury commission to start picking jurors for the trial. The jurors are chosen following the standard process set out in state law. This step officially kicks off the process of putting together a jury for the case.
