JACKSON (AP) — Jury selection in the federal civil rights trial of Jackson’s mayor, who is accused of leading a sledgehammer attack that heavily damaged a suspected crack house, could take longer than originally expected.

Many of the first 100 people summoned for the trial of Mayor Frank Melton and a former police bodyguard have been excused for hardships or for having strong opinions about Melton or the criminal charges he faces.

Now U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan III has decided to summon 10 more people as he seeks to seat a jury from a pool being drawn from 45 southern Mississippi counties.

Jordan said Thursday those 10 prospective jurors would contact the court late Friday to see if they’re needed. If so, they’ll be brought in Monday.

Jordan has been questioning each potential juror individually in a painstaking attempt to find out what they know about the case and if they can be impartial. Several people have said they would have a hard time convicting the mayor while others had already decided that he’s guilty.

The 59-year-old mayor and a former police bodyguard, Michael Recio, are accused of leading the sledgehammer attack on the house in August 2006.

He and Recio, 39, face 25 years in prison if convicted of violating the civil rights of the home’s tenant and owner. Both have pleaded not guilty and said they did nothing wrong.

Federal prosecutors said Melton had been drinking the night he ordered a group of young men to use sticks and sledgehammers to knock out windows and break down walls of the duplex apartment.

The challenge for prosecutors will be to convince jurors that Melton and Recio ‘‘willfully’’ or ‘‘intentionally’’ violated the civil rights of the tenant and homeowner. Both were acquitted of state charges in April 2007 after convincing a jury they did not act in malice, but in the best interest of the community.

Melton is a former television executive and one-time head of the state narcotics agency. He was elected by a landslide in 2005 after running on a tough-on-crime platform.

He soon became a fixture in rough neighborhoods, carrying guns and participating in police checkpoints. But authorities said he went too far with his unorthodox crime fighting techniques when he ordered the attack on the duplex, which Melton considered a drug den.