FAIRMONT - A trial scheduled to begin Thursday in Fairmont was canceled because of a lack of potential jurors.

A pool of 24 jurors gathered at the Martin County Courthouse for Joshua Brenon Smitherman, 28, of Fairmont, who is accused of felony criminal sexual conduct. Thirty-five potential jurors had been summoned to appear to form a 12-member jury.

Some of the missing potential jurors were found with phone calls, and at least three were brought in by the sheriff's office. But there were still some missing as of Thursday afternoon.

Between those who failed to report the preliminary questionnaires filled out by the others, court officials determined there were not enough viable candidates to fill the 12 positions plus one alternate.

"It is a very rare occurrence," said Martin County Judge Robert Walker. "This is the first time this has happened since I've been around."

In Martin County, jurors are on-call for a four-month period and are required to check in once a week on a designated hotline to find out about upcoming trials.

"Consider this a civics lesson," Walker said to the group before he dismissed them. "Those of you who showed up on time and waited get an 'A' in this lesson ... We had some who failed to show that the sheriff's office will be bringing in, and they will be receiving their own private lecture."

Walker pointed out the major differences in jury duty in Martin County compared to a heavily populated area, such as Minneapolis.

"In Hennepin County, they bring in about 1,700 potential jurors a week," Walker said. "They have an area where they spend the entire week and when a judge says 'I need a criminal jury,' they take 40 of those people and narrow it down ... We try to be as considerate of the lives and the times of our citizens as we can be."

"It's different in every county, but would they rather spend a week sitting around or just make one phone call a week?" said JoRae Detterman, deputy jury commissioner. "I had several people when I contacted them say, 'But you didn't call me.' We don't call; it's their responsibility to check in once a week. People need to take it up upon themselves to check in, and take it more seriously."

As for the criminal case scheduled for trial, defense attorney Troy Timmerman said it is rescheduled for Dec. 16-17.

"We might bring in more jurors this next time," Timmerman said.

Detterman said this instance is the poorest turnout for a potential jury trial the county has experienced in 20 years. Those who failed to respond to the summons for jury duty could face misdemeanor contempt of court charges.