Tish Bouvier recalled when she was summoned into jury duty this past March. At first, she said she wasn’t happy about having to navigate the morning rush hour in order to make her 8 a.m. appointment at the downtown Houston courthouse. Bouvier’s commute from west Houston meant that she had to give herself at least an hour to leave her house in order to make it on time.
While Houston traffic is the norm for city dwellers traveling by car to work, for Bouvier, a retired hospice nurse, it turned out that commute would become her new routine twice a week for three months after being selected as a grand juror in Harris County.
“I actually enjoyed being on jury duty,” Bouvier said. “I was among a group of people who believed it was an honor to make a meaningful contribution to our society.”
As for Bouvier’s time on jury service, the county paid $6 for the first day and $40 for every subsequent day following that, totaling approximately $1,046 not including taxes for the three months. Considering that the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the average monthly retirement income adjusted for inflation in 2023 is over $4,000, Bouvier could have incurred a loss of approximately close to $3,000. Despite the costs, she said serving as a grand juror was positive and a learning experience.
