Jury duty...

[lenshanem]

Can anyone feel my pain? I just got the letter today. I think I can get excused since I stay at home with my 3 year old. Anyone know? I just don't see how I can coordinate even a week getting there in the morning, getting my oldest off to school AND figuring out what to do with my 3 year old. Hubby can't just take off all week. Plus, I would have to be back home to pick up my oldest at 2:30. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[chell]

Yes, I feel your pain! I received mine two weeks ago. The sad part is that the week of the jury duty is the week I have a doctor's appointment. I really need to go to this appointment and if I don't go then they can't get me in again until May. Tomorrow was supposed to the be day for them to hear excuses but the way it is snowing here I doubt they will be open.

 

[tstobb]

In Florida, sole caregivers of children under 6 (stay-at home parents meet this) are excused so check with your state/county.

I was called for Grand Jury duty last month. Had to call in to see if I was needed every Monday, Tuesday & Friday for a month!

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

Usually the jury duty can't be excused for very many reasons....instead our local court officer has you use the term "postpone".

So what you'll want to do is postpone your service to a later date. I've had to do this several times.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Originally posted by tstobb
I was called for Grand Jury duty last month. Had to call in to see if I was needed every Monday, Tuesday & Friday for a month!

My DH was called for Federal Grand Jury has to call in every month for a year. So one week doesn't sound so bad.

 

[missypie]

Have you read the form carefully? In Texas, the form clearly states the reasons for which you may be excused. If one of those applies to you, you check the box, send it in and you're done.

 

[Kermit]

How you can be excused depends on the court. I've been summoned for county and federal court here, and they both came with their own list of ways you could be excused.

Look carefully at the form to see if it does list the things that automatically excuse you. If you don't see anything that pertains to you, you can call the courthouse to see what you should do next.

 

[sammi]

Yep my DH feels your pain........he received a summons for jury duty for Monday March 15th.

 

[JulianneP]

i feel the pain too! I have a 3 and 4 year old and got stuck this summer. I felt it my duty to go so I did and prayered I did not get picked. I had my kids spend the night with my parents (first time ever, I have issues leaving them over night with anyone wven my folks) Anyway I got picked for questions and found it was a 10 day trial. I thought I was going to faint! When the judge ask if anyone had a time problem with that he said the only excuse would be open heart surgery. Well when he ask if anyone had issues with the whole process I said yes and was called to his bench. By then I was in tears and told him I had no child care for 10 days! The lawyers started patting me on the back and said they could not use me. So I'm safe for another 3 years by then my kids will be in school.

So my advance though not the most mature...CRY!

 

[C.Ann]

There used to be lots of excuses to get out of jury duty in my particular county but over the years they have been dwindling rapidly..

The last time I was called I got as far as the jury box where they questioned me.. One of the lawyers happened to be a lawyer that runs an ad on television quite frequently. He asked if I was familiar with the ad and I said I was. He asked me what I thought and I told him that I didn't like him.. That was it - I was out of there! (And I was being truthful - I DON'T like him..)

 

[chell]

This may sound real silly, but the main reason I don't ever want to be on a jury again is because my bladder is tiny. I can easily go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. I just don't think I can sit there that long. After a while I won't be able to pay attention because I have to go so bad. The last time I was on a jury it wasn't so bad because the judge would let you go when you needed to. But I hear that one of the judges here will not let you go. Depends are not an option either.

 

[sue1013]

When my kids were young I was able to get excused for that reason. Then I got called when they were much older, so I went I actually enjoyed it. Got on a trial thought it was very interesting.

 

[princessariel]

I just got my 6th jury duty summons. At least they waited till my kids were a little older than 3. I have served on 5 jurys. The first one I served on was a former Chief of Police on trial and the case lasted over a month, in court from 8am till 8 pm. They paid for our lunches and dinners everyday. In the end we got sequestered in a motel one night. It was a real experience.

The thing that bothers me is I have been called 6 times but DH has only been called once and he didn't even have to go. How do they pick jurors? I think I've done my share.

 

[thatchicktrish]

I feel your pain! I've gotten called for jury duty twice in the past year, once for county court and once for on-call city court which is 3 months long!!! I'd have to call every week to see if I had to report. My son is 7, I have no car, my husband couldn't take a week off to take me to and from jury duty so they excused me from both. I'm just a little frustrated because they came so close together and I just know in the future they are going to call me for city, county, and whatever other juries they can, every 4 years on the dot. I have bad luck like that

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

Well I guess I am in the minority here...but I would LOVE to be called for jury duty!! I always get so jealous when someone I know gets called! I have been called three times I think, twice have been in the jury box and twice got kicked off. I'm sure it's because of my educational background/work history. I have almost always worked in law offices (and right now I'm working for the Dept of Justice) and I have a B.S. in Criminal Justice. I have to say I know a lot about how the system works and maybe that's why they never want me. Since I intend to stay in this field forever, I'll probably never get called.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

the one time I was called I was in college and classes got me out of serving

 

[lenshanem]

I read the fine print. I think I can get out of it. Says something about if you have a child under 4 and have no alternative child care. I'm going to call the number tomorrow. I think I might have to go down and sign an affidavit.
Regardless, will they just postpone me and call em back when my youngest is 4? What is the difference? She still won't be in school yet. I wonder why they don't wait until they are at least 6 and in Kindergarten?
And if I end up going through with it it seems from reading these post you can get called back again. Why do some get called and others never? How did we get on the list?

I would think the hardest thing is being on call. Almost impossible to get a babysitter on that short of notice.

 

[Ellester]

I am fairly certain that Georgia now has a law excusing SAHM's with young children. I belong to a national mothers group (Mothers & More) and I remember reading how excited they were that the lobbying they did for the bill in Georgia paid off. Here they will let you delay serving if you are pregnant or a nursing mom, but you do have to serve eventually. I was called when my kids were 4 and 1 and I went ahead and went since my mom wasn't working at the time and was able to watch them. It was actually a very relaxing day, I got to drink coffee and read magazines. They even showed movies and served popcorn in the afternoon. I didn't get called until after lunch and then was excused because it was a personal injury case and I have been in several auto accidents. I even got to go out to lunch on the county's dime!

 

[nativetxn]

I get called almost every year but I've never won a seat on a jury. I really want to serve on a jury but so far it hasn't happened.

 

[wilderness01]

I was just called as well. They had me write a letter stating I had young children with no one to care for them. My husband can not take off work for my jury duty. He had to take off for his own jury duty call last year. So far, they said I was excused.