Hail to the foreman? Bush called for jury duty

updated 2:20 p.m. ET Dec. 1, 2005

WACO, Texas - President Bush could get a new title — juror No. 286.

The president is among 600 potential jurors who have been summoned to report to court Monday in McLennan County, where his 1,600-acre Crawford ranch is located.

State District Judge Ralph Strother said he expects to get a response about the summons but doesn’t expect Bush to report for duty.

“I don’t think I’ll be sending the sheriff out to bring the president in,” said Strother, a Republican who has a grandson serving in Iraq. “It seems to me that the president has plenty of things to occupy his attention. Jury duty is a very important civic function, but running the country, I think, especially in wartime, takes priority over jury service.”

White House spokesman Allen Abney said Bush was not aware of the situation and had not received the summons, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported Thursday. He declined to elaborate on how the president would handle the jury notice when it arrived at the White House.

While it’s not known if the president will report, Bush’s Democratic rival in the 2004 election served on a Massachusetts jury last month.

Sen. John Kerry not only served but was elected foreman of the Suffolk Superior Court jury, which rejected a claim by two men who sued the city of Boston for injuries suffered in a car accident involving a school principal.

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