Several eastern Pennsylvania counties have latched on to an idea whose time has come: allowing jurors to donate their fees to approved nonprofit organizations, which can certainly use the money.

Unfortunately, neither Carbon nor Schuylkill counties is among the growing list, but we feel it's a program worthy of investigation. The district court administrators in both counties agree with us. An alternate juror, Daniel Schoen of Bethlehem Township, wanted to donate his fee but learned there is no mechanism in place in Northampton County.This has gotten the wheels turning, and court officials there are checking into what needs to be done to implement the program.Lehigh County is planning to begin the program this summer. According to Lehigh County Deputy Court administrator Kerry R. Turtzo, an outdated juror management computer program is delaying the Lehigh County program, but a new system is expected to be in place by sometime during the summer, which will allow the jurors the option of donating their fees and mileage reimbursement.Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties have the juror-donation program up and running, one of them for 13 years. Statewide, jurors are paid $9 a day for up to the first three days of service and $25 a day for the fourth day and beyond if they are selected for a trial. A juror also receives 17 cents per mile in travel expenses, based on the resident's ZIP code. Not only do jurors get that warm and fuzzy feeling about helping those in need in their respective counties, but they also receive receipts which can be used for income tax deduction purposes.In Bucks County, where the program went into operation in January 2015, between $35,000 and $40,000 has been raised. Bucks polled jurors on where they wanted donations to go before launching the program. They chose a Bucks County housing group, the crisis shelter called A Woman's Place, and the Bucks County Children's Advocacy Center.This year, jurors will be able to donate to the local Wounded Warriors fund, the Bucks County SPCA and A Woman's Place (for the second year in a row). The original intent was to get new agencies as beneficiaries of the program every year.Chester County's program has been in operation nearly five months. Jurors there have donated more than $10,000 to the parks department, a long-term care facility Montgomery County has had a program for five years. In the past two years, jurors have donated nearly $40,000 to the Women's Center of Montgomery County, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project.Delaware County was the first county in southeastern Pennsylvania to begin a juror donation program. Since its inception in 2003, nearly 75,000 jurors have donated more than $775,000 to five agencies, according to Delaware County Court administrator Gerald C. Montella, who heard about the program in operation in Allegheny County. In Philadelphia, which has no formal program, jurors who want to donate are told to endorse their checks and send them to their favorite organization.Carbon's District Court Administrator Roberta Brewster said there are no plans "at the moment" for such a program in Carbon, although she added that court officials might be willing to explore how the program works and whether it can be implemented later on.Schuylkill's District Court administrator Lois A. Wallauer said she had not heard about the program until now, but since Lehigh is planning on implementing it later this year, she will contact a colleague in Allentown to get details on how the program works. She said that it sounds worthwhile, and "worth investigating."We believe this idea has substantial merit. We would expect that there would be a sizable number of jurors who would be willing to consider donating their modest fees to help agencies in their county provide additional help for their needy clients. This is especially true in these lean times caused by economic hardships and the inability of state government to come up with a budget that would free funds for these agencies.BRUCE FRASSINELLI |

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