Discussions

So I got a lovely letter in the mail today calling me for Jury Duty in just under 2 months. Great!@# I am going contact the sheriff office for more information but decided to see if anyone here has had this experience. I see that employers are to by law give leaves from work, but only mention compensation after a 10 day trial, and I don't live in the city so I have an hour drive too to serve. From what I read in the letter too I have no reason to be exempt. Thanks for now!

Lucky

Kryslin0680 said "Lucky "

...watching too many movies, but ditto.  

Have had to turn down jury duty twice in one year. I believe there is an area in the notice that indicates that if you will be put into financial problems, or will contribute to financial problems of others, that you can be exempt.  
 
At least that's how I declined (and legitimately so).

you can say that you have some mental problems or something along that line and they won,t want you on jury

When it's time for you to explain to the judge why you would be unable to serve on the jury it was my experience that this is done in open court with some direct questions. If you are prepared with a proper explanation, the judge can excuse you. That was my observation when I was selected to server and eventually ending up on a jury about 11 years ago now.

As stated, you need to report on the date and time that your summons states. I had this happen last year.  
After the case is explained and everyone is introduced at the front of the court, there will be a time that people who feel that they should not or are not able to serve on the jury will be invited forward. Each person states the reason they feel that they should be exempt, the judge and/or lawyers have the opportunity to ask some questions, and then the judge will say whether he/she agrees. The judge is able to say yes or no, whether you agree with it or not. There are about 150 or more people at the start, about 25 people went and said reasons why they thought they couldn't/ shouldn't serve on the jury. Reasons ranged from financial hardship to medical restrictions to conflict of interest. Some were dismissed (ie- someone who was related to one of the lawyers, someone who was on kidney dialysis), and some were advised that their reason wasn't valid to have them dismissed (ie- a teacher who lived an hour and a half outside of Brandon, who would have been on full pay through her union, someone who had once worked at the same location as the victim). After this is done, people who are elligible for jury duty are then called to the front one at a time, and the lawyers have the opportunity to ask some questions, and they say if they agree or disagree with you being on the jury.  
If you are from an hour out of town, you will be able to apply for gas money, even for just that day.

Even if you do go, you may not be selected, and even if you're selected your case may not go to trial.  
 
I was selected for jury duty once many years ago, I was about 19 or 20 years old. Two days before the trial was due to start, a plea agreement was reached. Apparently that happens a fair amount.  
 
But my grandmother has gotten out of it due to age: my father because he's my grandmother's caregiver: someone else because they have preschool children, etc. There's a multitude of reasons why you can decline, it doesn't hurt to call and ask if you fit.

Served on a jury once, think the trial was about 3 days.  
My employer gave me time off with pay. As I was from out of town, I had the option of having a hotel room paid for or gas money, which I opted for. Think we also got lunch money.  
Got called again the next year, called the Sherriff's office and was excused on those grounds.