Whenever in the opinion of a presiding judge of a court of common pleas or general sessions of any county of this State about to enter upon the trial of a civil or criminal case the trial is likely to be protracted, the court may cause an entry to that effect to be made in the minutes of the court and, immediately after the jury is impaneled and sworn, the court shall direct the calling of one or two additional jurors in its discretion, to be known as alternate jurors. These jurors must be drawn from the same source, in the same manner, have the same qualifications, and be subject to the same examination and challenge as the jurors already sworn.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 38-76; 1952 Code Section 38-76; 1942 Code Section 626-2; 1937 (40) 300; 1976 Code Section 14-7-390; 1986 Act No. 340, Section 1, eff March 10, 1986.
Editor's Note
Provisions relative to duties of a circuit judge in the event of irregularities in the drawing of jurors, which formerly appeared in this section, can now be found in Section 14-7-280.