Jury Service Tips
How was I chosen for jury service?
Most jurors are selected from motor vehicle lists of licensed drivers. And that seems to have the widest range of people available for jury service. Typically they are just chosen by county, on a county-wide basis from the motor vehicle list. Anyone who is over 18 can expect at some point to be summoned for jury service.
How frequently might I have to serve on a jury?
How frequently one serves kind of depends, or is asked to serve depends on the luck of the draw. Typically if you've been summoned and gone down to court to do jury service, whether or not you get on a jury. Once you've completed your service, you generally won't be summoned again for a least a year. How long you go beyond a year depends on, how many people are in a county. What system of jury service the jurisdiction allows. So it's hard to give an answer to that, but generally at least a year after you've served, you will not be called again to serve.
Will I be paid for jury service?
Payment for jury service is typically quite small, consisting of the mileage reimbursement one way between one's home and the courthouse and maybe an additional payment of $10 a day, if you're actually serving on a jury.
What if my boss doesn't want me to serve on a jury?
Typically, most employers don't want their employees serving on juries. But it's recognized as both a right and an obligation of being an American citizen eligible to serve on a jury. Anyone who has a hardship from jury service can usually explain that in writing ahead of time, when they're notified that they've been selected for, to come down to the court. And if they haven't had a chance to do it then, they're certainly always welcome to explain to a judge why they should not have to do jury service. But the fact that your employer doesn't like it, or that you really are busy, those kinds of excuses will not get you out of jury service.
Can I be excused from jury service?
Typically the only people who are actually excused are people for whom it's a medical disability that makes it dangerous for them to serve on a jury, or if they're elderly, like over 75, they're typically excused from doing jury duty. Anyone else who has an individual hardship can always explain it to the judge and ask to be excused, but it's up to the judge to decide whether or not he or she wants to grant the excuse.
Once I qualify for jury service, how long am I eligible for it?
Different states have very different systems. A lot of states have gone to the one day jury service, meaning that you come to court on a certain day, the day that's set for your jury service. If you're selected for a jury then you would, you know, perform, serve, on that jury until the case is over. But if you're not selected for a jury at the end of that day you have completed your jury service and you will not be called again for jury service for at least a year. Other jurisdictions you're on, you may be on call for a week or two weeks and you may not have to come to court each of those days, but you have to be available to come to court for two weeks and you're not excused until that two weeks is passed.
