Could I be excused for jury duty?

Question

I received a letter for jury duty this weekend. Do most states excuse you if you are a full time college student? I will call tomorrow, but I would like to know if I have a chance of being excused. I don't want to miss one or two days of classes.

Answer 1

you can contact the court and tell them your predicament, they should ask you when you have an open schedule, like spring break or winter break and you can serve then

Answer 2

It has become much more difficult to be excused from Jury Duty in the last few years.  However, there are still certain exceptions that will permit  you to be excused from Jury Duty, but they vary from Court to Court.

The Jury Summons probably includes information about getting excused and may include such things as being a full time college student.  My recent summons in Texas allowed an excuse for being a student, but your area may be different.

Contact the Court before hand and see what they say.  If that fails, you can show up on the date indicated and asked to be excused then.

Answer 3

Are you trying to be excused from classes or from jury duty?

And I've never heard of someone having class on the weekend.

Answer 4

I think these days most people settle before it goes to trial anyway.  I was called up for jury duty a few years ago.  I was a single parent (husband was military serving overseas) and I was sick with flu-like symptoms.  I figured I'd get out of it for sure.  They had me call a number, which told me to call back in a few days.  By then they said I was excused, and I never had to set foot in the courthouse at all!  So maybe you'll get lucky like that.

Answer 5

Every court has some slightly different rules about duty.  Some allow you to waive once or twice others require a death notice (and you have to bring the corpse with you).  Call and ask, but odds are good that you will have to go the first day at least.

Then the judge can excuse your early in the day if your reason is valid.

good luck.. but don't forget that (here comes the soapbox) that jury duty is actually an obligation that you should be willing to perform.  Its generally a great way to see the court system in action and is a small trade off for some of the rights you enjoy as a citizen.

(ok   down off the soapbox now.. you can relax).

..

Answer 6

Request to be excused by citing a valid reason that the date of jury duty is in conflict with your critical school days.

Answer 7

I was summoned for that one time and remember that they also sent a paper to fill out ,on which you can explain why you can`t be on jury duty.All you have to do is fill it out ,explain your situation and send it by mail back to the address provided.This way you might not have to appear for the preliminary jury selection meeting and hopefully they will excuse you from it.

Answer 8

In most cases I think that you can be excused from jury duty if you call and tell them in advance.

Answer 9

Jury duty is an honor for an American to help in the process of justice. Your school should be willing to excuse you for Jury duty. The time may come when you wish you could serve as many can not. Regardless, the only way to be excused is to be relieved of the responsibility by the court. College or work is not usually an acceptable excuse. You can be excused for death if you provide a death certificate.

Answer 10

i put off jury duty for a year and a half from my original notification...just tell them that is your busy time and it would be more convenient to do it during summer christmas break or some such thing, the courts here are very flexible about those issues,

also there are several things that can disqualify you, such as a pending litigation you or a family member may have, any family members or close freinds die in a crime related situation? (car wreck inwhich one of the drivers was drunk).

those things sound terrible, for true, but they will be asked during the screening process.