jury duty summons during a cruise HELP Please

[MrsTomMorrow14]

For Louisiana i just had to show a confirmation of the vacation.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

From Ma. here as well. I got a summons for jury duty to be served during my Alaskan cruise. It was past my PIF. I was able to delay my appearence by a month. ( I then got chosen and placed on a jury for a criminal trial-yikes!) Do not worry all weekend. Take a look at the paperwork and call on Monday. They will help you out. The point here being is to contact them. Not responding to a summons and appearing for jury duty gets you into a ton of trouble. You will be fine.

 

[daisyx3]

I am in Wood co., Ohio. Twice I have been called during a month we had trips, but there is a place on the form to say you need to postpone and I did, although I never was called back during the month I chose to use. I think Lucas Co. (Toledo) is similar. I wouldn't worry.

 

[lklgoodman]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not worried about it now since hearing from everyone here. Neither of us has been called before, so I was worried a cruise wouldn't be a good reason to get a postponement. I mean it's important to us, but I was worried they only let you postpone for more serious reasons like major health issues. My dh will take care of it on Mon. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[Geomom]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not worried about it now since hearing from everyone here. Neither of us has been called before, so I was worried a cruise wouldn't be a good reason to get a postponement. I mean it's important to us, but I was worried they only let you postpone for more serious reasons like major health issues. My dh will take care of it on Mon. Thanks again everyone!!

That's amazing that neither of you have been called for jury duty before. MA has the 1 day of jury service or 1 trial rule and that excuses you from jury service for 3 years, after that they can call you again. I think I've now served 4 times--once in college, once while working, in 2002, and in 2019--I was amazed that 17 yrs passed without getting a jury summons--but thankful as I'm a stay at home mom and only had to serve 1x with a young child at home. I've never been chosen to be on a jury, so it was just the 1 day of service each time.

 

[lklgoodman]

That's amazing that neither of you have been called for jury duty before. MA has the 1 day of jury service or 1 trial rule and that excuses you from jury service for 3 years, after that they can call you again. I think I've now served 4 times--once in college, once while working, in 2002, and in 2019--I was amazed that 17 yrs passed without getting a jury summons--but thankful as I'm a stay at home mom and only had to serve 1x with a young child at home. I've never been chosen to be on a jury, so it was just the 1 day of service each time.

My dh was in the military. When we first were married we were constantly moving from one place to another. He's no longer in the Air Force so we've been living in our current town for more than just a couple of years. I guess we were just never in one place long enough to get called. I'd love to do it.

 

[Geomom]

My dh was in the military. When we first were married we were constantly moving from one place to another. He's no longer in the Air Force so we've been living in our current town for more than just a couple of years. I guess we were just never in one place long enough to get called. I'd love to do it.

That explains it! Perhaps you'll have a chance now that you're settled. And I'd like to thank your DH for serving in the military.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

I am jealous of those who get excused for 3 years after serving! In CA you are only excused for 1 year and I get a summons every single year—I think because I served on a trial once so they know I am probably not going to ignore the summons. At least they allow you to postpone for 6 mo to a year so I can reschedule for when it’s convenient.

A few years ago my dad told me he threw out every jury summons he got. I was shocked! I thought you got in trouble for doing that but maybe they don’t have the resources to actually pursue the number of people who ignore the summons (depending on where you live). Not suggesting this as a strategy though!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That's amazing that neither of you have been called for jury duty before.

My first jury notice came to my mother's house about 2 months after I had moved out to a different county. I was in my late 20s. She just returned it with the "no longer at this address" comment.

The next jury notice I got was some 30+ years later. I had to delay it a month due to a cruise. And, even then, I didn't have to actually show up, I just called in every night for a week to see if they needed me to come in the next day. After a week of not being directed to show up, I'm good for another year.

 

[SamFaniam]

That's amazing that neither of you have been called for jury duty before.

I have been on this earth for more than a few decades, and have never been called for jury duty at the local, state, or federal level.

 

[barney4liz]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not worried about it now since hearing from everyone here. Neither of us has been called before, so I was worried a cruise wouldn't be a good reason to get a postponement. I mean it's important to us, but I was worried they only let you postpone for more serious reasons like major health issues. My dh will take care of it on Mon. Thanks again everyone!!

I work for the federal court system, and courts in general want to keep their jurors and prospective jurors happy. I'm glad you've received comfort from these posts, and I just wanted to say thank you for your willingness to serve! The court will be happy to have you back another time

 

[auntlynne]

...so I was worried a cruise wouldn't be a good reason to get a postponement. ...

I would say the cruise isn’t a good reason, BUT the non refundable money is. Can you imagine the uproar (and lawsuits) if they demanded people to lose money from prepaid vacations or weddings?

 

[jdb in AZ]

Is this thread contagious? I was thinking it's been awhile since I received a jury summons, and guess what arrived in the mail today! It's for a courtroom north of Phoenix and I live South of the city, so it will be a long commute in rush hour traffic. It would be nice if they assigned me to a closer court house. Anyway, the assignment starts ten days before my vacation to visit grand kids, and plane tickets were purchased months ago, so hopefully it will be a short trial (or they won't need my assigned jury pool, which is usually the case.)

 

[Dug720]

I had a Grand Jury summons in the summer of 2018. I don’t teach summer school and had no good reason not to, so I just kept my name in (and served so I cannot be called for NYC or NYS for 6 years - Federal can still call me though...ugh).

When we all got in, the Marshall went through the automatically disqualifying things - which always ends (I remember this from the time I had trial jury duty and was almost seated but it was going to take me out of the classroom when ALL my students IEPs were due - and those are legal documents that cannot be out of compliance so they had to let me go) with “If you cannot speak and understand English. If you cannot understand English, go through that door over there and you can explain how you don’t speak or understand English but you knew to go through that door.” (There was one older Chinese woman who had her daughter with her to translate, so SHE made sense going through the door.)

Then he went over reasons to postpone, one of which was a non-refundable vacation. You just had to show proof dated prior to that moment (like the original reservation). We all chuckled and he said “You would be surprised the number of people requesting vacation delays who show me airline tickets booked while they were waiting in line.”

So I agree with everyone else that there should be no issue. Just follow what they tell you to do.

 

[Quicklabs]

I live in Ohio as well in the county right next to you. . Last month, I got a jury summons that overlapped my cruise dates.. I just followed the instructions on the form and sent proof of my cruise and flights. I also gave them an alternate date. About 10 days later I received notice that I had been excused. I.really would have liked to serve on the jury, I feel strongly that it is my civic duty to participate in our constitutional republic.

 

[otten]

That's amazing that neither of you have been called for jury duty before. MA has the 1 day of jury service or 1 trial rule and that excuses you from jury service for 3 years, after that they can call you again. I think I've now served 4 times--once in college, once while working, in 2002, and in 2019--I was amazed that 17 yrs passed without getting a jury summons--but thankful as I'm a stay at home mom and only had to serve 1x with a young child at home. I've never been chosen to be on a jury, so it was just the 1 day of service each time.

My husband has never gotten a summons. I have gotten 3 but was a breastfeeding mother all three times and was excused on that basis.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP unfortunately you have to go with what your County/jurisdiction states because different places have different rules on being excused, rescheduling, exemptions, etc. Hope you're able to take that cruise though!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No need to freak out. Courts are reasonable. They know that some real-life obligations need to take priority, and your husband's presence is really not critical to the jury pool.

Well it's not really accurate to say they are not critical to the jury pool. No one knows that because no one knows what trial they may be a part of when getting a jury duty summons. System-wise we're all critical to it though

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You've gotten some good info above. I think most places these days are just thrilled that you aren't tossing the form in the trash and are being proactive about it.

I don't know how many people throw it in the trash here but failure to follow through with a jury duty notification by not answering the questionnaire, providing false information or not appearing should you be summoned for actual jury duty means you may be charged with a Class A misdemeanor or you may be held in contempt of court and you can be fined for failing to respond to a jury service summons in my County. I don't know how often they follow through with contempt of court and a fine but I sure wouldn't want to risk it in my area because I threw it in the trash.

Summons would answering the jury duty notification by first going to answer a questionnaire to input your information (which determines your eligibility) and reschedule if needed (and if you qualify for it) for my area. If not rescheduling there's other things you have to do.

Obviously the OP's area could be completely and utterly different

 

[squirk]

Well it's not really accurate to say they are not critical to the jury pool. No one knows that because no one knows what trial they may be a part of when getting a jury duty summons. System-wise we're all critical to it though

It’s entirely accurate.

Collectively, yes, the jury pool system works best when everyone across all (eligible) demographics participates.

But the OP’s husband’s presence - him, specifically - will not “make or break“ whatever trial he would have been assigned to but for this cruise.