U.S. Courts Design Guide
Emergency Lighting
Standby power for emergency lighting for all jury facilities must be provided by local
battery backup systems.
Key Locks
Jury Assembly Area. The entrance to the jury assembly area, jury clerk's office, and
enclosed storage must have key locks.
Trial Jury Suite. The entrance to the trial jury suite must have a key lock.
Grand Jury Suite. The entrance to the grand jury suite, grand jury hearing room, and
enclosed storage must have key locks.
Single-fixture toilets in all three jury areas must have privacy locks.
Jury Assembly Area
Proper acoustics are important in the jury assembly area because potential jurors
receive instructions regarding their obligation. To enhance acoustics in the jury
assembly area, a sound system must be provided. The system must be designed so that
the loudspeakers distribute the majority of energy into the direct sound field, with
minimum distribution into the reverberant field. This can be accomplished by
providing a highly sound-absorbent environment, with a maximum reverberation time
of 0.8. The acoustic privacy requirement for the jury assembly area is "normal."
Trial Jury Suite
Trial jury suites must be acoustically enclosed. Trial jury suites adjoining other
functional spaces must have soundproofed common walls. The acoustic privacy
requirement is "inaudible" for the entire jury suite. To ensure intelligibility and
privacy of speech within the trial jury suite, the soundlock entry doors must be fully
gasketed.
7-28
12/19/97
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