Residents of Jefferson and Lewis counties who fulfill their jury duty service will soon have a longer interlude before they can be summoned again.

Fifth Judicial District Administrative Judge James C. Tormey has changed the summoning period for potential jurors to eight years, in some instances doubling the exemption period during which a person cannot be called to duty. The eight-year exemption period takes effect in January.

"We're trying to save money and save people's time," Judge Tormey said. "Everyone's been really enthusiastic about it."

The summoning period for jurors in the Fifth Judicial District, which includes Oneida, Herkimer, Onondaga, Lewis and Jefferson counties, traditionally has been four years, although the commissioners of jurors in Lewis and Jefferson counties have lengthened the period to six years recently.

Judge Tormey said that an 18-month pilot program in Onondaga County, where the summoning period is four years, showed that more effective managing of jury pools produces cost savings for the court system and reduces the need for larger pools of potential jurors.

As part of the pilot program in Syracuse City Court, where as many seven trials a week can be scheduled, Judge Tormey advised the court's seven judges to get together and decide which cases were most likely to proceed to trial. A jury pool was called for the trial most likely to occur and, if additional trials were deemed likely, more jurors were summoned.

Judge Tormey said that what the court found was that it was able to significantly reduce the number of jurors it needed to summon, saving both potential jurors' time and taxpayers' money. Jurors are eligible to receive up to $40 per day for their service.

"You save $40 per day per person for every trial and it adds up," Judge Tormey said. "We're saving thousands and thousands of dollars."

By better managing the jury pool and summoning fewer jurors, the court found it could increase the number of years between juror summonings and still have a large enough pool from which to draw.

"We're pushing the envelope, but we think we can do it," Judge Tormey said. "The jurors are really thankful that we're not wasting their time. We're very conscious of that."

Jefferson County Commissioner of Jurors Helen G. Farrell said the county's change from a four-year to a six-year exemption period has worked well and that a change to eight years will be even more positive.

"I'm enthusiastic," she said, "and I think that jurors are going to be elated."

She said that in Jefferson County, which has about 42,000 potential jurors from which to draw, the actual period between summonses usually has been longer than the minimum.

"In all honesty, when we say four, or six or eight years, and in four years, when they are again eligible, it doesn't mean they will get a questionnaire and be pulled back in," Mrs. Farrell said.

The Fifth Judicial District is the first district in the state to increase the summoning period to eight years.