The president judge of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court has ordered what he says are aggressive changes to increase the number of African Americans available for jury duty.

Starting immediately, the county will supplement its prospective jurors survey by 10 percent, directing the additional questionnaires to municipalities and city wards where the voting-age population is 10.8 percent or more African-American, said Judge Joseph M. James.

The jury commission also will draw 10 percent of the daily jury pool from those communities.

To be summoned for jury duty, one must be 18, a resident, and either a registered voter or a licensed driver.

James said the changes will address complaints in criminal trials in recent months from black defendants and their attorneys, some of whom have taken court action because their juries weren't diverse.

On a daily average, the jury pool has been about 5.5 percent black, while the county's adult population is 10.8 percent black, according to a study commissioned last year by the court administration.

Ray Billotte, the court administrator, has said that diversity improvements are his No. 1 priority this year.

"This isn't as a result of a lawsuit," James said yesterday. "We could wait for that, but I don't think that's the appropriate role of the court. We should be proactive. We're going to take steps now so that we don't end up in litigation.

"This is my highest priority, too," he said.

The U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions guarantee a defendant in a criminal trial the right to be tried by a jury of his or her peers. In recent years, African-American defendants have requested that more minorities be seated on their juries.

With only 35,000 eligible county residents having been contacted for possible jury duty in 2004, the jury commission is behind schedule in its responsibility to contact 150,000 potential jurors by May 1.

In yesterday's order, James extended the deadline to June 30 and authorized the commission to reduce its total mailing, requiring it to contact 65,000 more people. The other 50,000 questionnaires will be mailed by an outside agency by March 31.

That agency also will be responsible for mailing questionnaires to the 15,000 supplemental jurors chosen from minority communities.

It won't mean a lighter workload for the jury commission. Its staff will use the extra time for follow-ups on potential jurors who ignore the questionnaires.

After six months, James said, the new procedures will be evaluated to determine their effectiveness. More permanent ideas are being considered, he said.

Any improvement in the current method of jury selection is welcome, said Esther Bush, chief executive of the Urban League of Pittsburgh.

"I think that is a very appropriate way to do it," she said yesterday. "You're bringing in more African Americans than you would traditionally have brought in. I'm pleased that it is being addressed and that there is finally some action. That is the only way we are going to be able to move our town forward."

James said the law "allows you to tailor a remedy temporarily for a reasonable period of time."

He said the idea to focus more attention on minority communities was brought to him by another judge in the county.

In addition to the new measures, jurors upon arrival for duty or before they leave for the day will be asked to complete a voluntary, anonymous questionnaire that would give their race, gender, age and ZIP code. This will give the county more information to consider when comparing the jury pool with the county's population.