Waaaaah! Just got a Jury Summons!

[Flyerfan]

We are leaving for the World on 1/11 and I'm due to report for county on 1/4. I'm sending it back promptly with a note requesting a postponement and I'll be waiting impatiently for a letter excusing me. Please tell me they'll let me out of it this time.

 

[kcmyluv]

I know In MN you can have one postponement. Not sure what good enough reasons are, I had a friend whose wife was going to have a baby so he got his poseponed!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

We are leaving for the World on 1/11 and I'm due to report for county on 1/4. I'm sending it back promptly with a note requesting a postponement and I'll be waiting impatiently for a letter excusing me. Please tell me they'll let me out of it this time.

I think one time is normally excused... Still on the short list though.... Hope the best for you.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I know In MN you can have one postponement. Not sure what good enough reasons are, I had a friend whose wife was going to have a baby so he got his poseponed!

actually in MN and many places firm vacation plans will get a postponement

--All scheduled vacations and/or appointments you have that cannot be rescheduled will be honored. --

 

[simzac]

I have received 3 over the past 10 years. Each time on the questionaire I mark that serving would pose a financial hardship on our family, send it back, and I never hear from them again.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I have received 3 over the past 10 years. Each time on the questionaire I mark that serving would pose a financial hardship on our family, send it back, and I never hear from them again.

Uhm... maybe heard back from them only twice?

 

[sjdisneywedding]

We are leaving for the World on 1/11 and I'm due to report for county on 1/4. I'm sending it back promptly with a note requesting a postponement and I'll be waiting impatiently for a letter excusing me. Please tell me they'll let me out of it this time.

did you just receive this notice?

Im all for fullfilling my civic duty, but 6 weeks notice aint gonna ever cut it my world

 

[DisneyFreaks]

This happened to DH once. He just called and explained that we had a vacation all booked and paid for and they said "no problem". They just put his name back into the "hat". He was called upon again just two months later but he didn't have to serve.

 

[Flyerfan]

did you just receive this notice?

Im all for fullfilling my civic duty, but 6 weeks notice aint gonna ever cut it my world

Yep, just received it last evening. Was certainly a Black Friday for me. This is only the second time receiving a summons for me. Last tiime was 10 years ago and I was all prepared to serve and then one week before I was to report I broke my foot. They let me out. I'm hoping they will this time, too. It's going in the mail today with a note. Funny thing is (well, not really), back in the summer, 2 people at work got called to serve and I would obsess about what would happen if I would get it for vacation time. I jinxed myself. And just last month DH served, for only one day. It's contagious!!!

 

[Steve@BWV]

It seems you have a week before your vacation. Most service last only a day. Why not just go and serve? They will know ahead of time if a long trial is expected and can excuse you at that point. If it interferes with your plans I am sure they will excuse you. I see no reason for compliant here.

This happens to be one of my pet peeves. I can not stand it when people complain about jury duty. We should all be thankful such a system exists for us and honored to do our part.

 

[littlestar]

I've been called 4 times. The most recent summons I received was for the week before Christmas. The following week we leave for Orlando for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary trip with 34 family members - which I cannot miss.

My husband has served 7 times (the most I've ever heard of). We start laughing every time we see the summons in the mail box. We know people that have never been called their entire life.

 

[debbiepump]

Just tell them you have vacation plans. When I had jury duty, I was so surprised how many people don't show up. Asked my daughter (she's a cop) what happens when you don't show up and she said you get put on 'the list' and if you happen to get pulled over by Barney Fife, can create problems, but that's not that often. You are allowed one or two excuses (depends on the state). I worked with a doc once who tried getting out (he was a surgeon no less) due to the inconvenience of patients, necessary surgeries, etc and he was forced to go. He went and ended up very glad he did, he was the jury foreman and was really into the trial. Came back as Perry Mason instead of Dr. SoandSo.

 

[snowbunny]

I'm sure they will let you out once. Most of the time though, service is one day. The chances of being selected for a jury and then having the case actually go to trial are not high. I've done a lot of one-day jury service, it mostly involves sitting in a large room with a lot of other people waiting to be called.

I agree with Steve@BWV. Just go and do your one-day service and let them know at that time (if you even get to jury selection phase of a trial, which is unlikely) that you have firm vacation plans for x dates. And bring something to read.

 

[Flyerfan]

This happens to be one of my pet peeves. I can not stand it when people complain about jury duty. We should all be thankful such a system exists for us and honored to do our part.

I don't mean to complain, it's just bad timing. Any other time, I would have no problem (even though they only pay $9/day and I don't get reimbursed by my employer). I mailed my summons back this morning with a note. We'll see what happens from there.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

you could go, then hope you dont get to the next round

if you do get called on, then just tell them you will be on vacation such and such a date

either they will not want you or they will tell you your vacation wont interfere with the trial dates anyway

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I don't mean to complain, it's just bad timing. Any other time, I would have no problem (even though they only pay $9/day and I don't get reimbursed by my employer). I mailed my summons back this morning with a note. We'll see what happens from there.

its probably a good call going that route.

better safe than sorry

if they dont let you out,then tell them when you go again you will be on vacation such and such a date

they are not going to assign anyone to a date who has firm plans on that same date

 

[jamstew]

It seems you have a week before your vacation. Most service last only a day. Why not just go and serve? They will know ahead of time if a long trial is expected and can excuse you at that point. If it interferes with your plans I am sure they will excuse you. I see no reason for compliant here.

This happens to be one of my pet peeves. I can not stand it when people complain about jury duty. We should all be thankful such a system exists for us and honored to do our part.

Depending on where you live, most times the initial process takes a day--where the entire jury pool is qualified and questioned, and excuses are considered. Where I live, you have to show up unless you're exempt by age, disability, etc., and I actually have seen judges issue bench warrants for those who didn't.

If you're actually selected for service, it can and usually does take much longer. It also depends on whether you're summoned for a criminal or civil docket, how many cases are on the docket for that term, and how many juries they're selecting. They know ahead of time, particularly in civil cases, how long a case is expected to take. It's a relatively complex process and highly variable. I've spent a morning in court for the initial call on a criminal docket, only to return after lunch to find that all the defendants scheduled for trial had entered into a plea bargain. Another time, I was selected for service in a criminal trial where the jury was picked one day, but the trial wasn't scheduled to begin until a week or two later. The trial lasted four days. Working for a civil litigation firm for 30+ years, I was never selected for civil trials.

I wholeheartedly agree about the importance of service and have always been happy to serve. That said, the last people we wanted on a jury were ones who resented being there.

...but, to OP's question...I've always been excused when I had a confirmed vacation scheduled. Where I live, if you're excused for anything other than a legal exemption, they give you a choice of another week, and you're automatically put on the jury list for that time.

 

[BoosGram]

We are leaving for the World on 1/11 and I'm due to report for county on 1/4. I'm sending it back promptly with a note requesting a postponement and I'll be waiting impatiently for a letter excusing me. Please tell me they'll let me out of it this time.

Wow, maybe they have Disney vacation radar. The same thing just happened to me. I received a jury summons last week for the month of February (I know from previous experience that you can be committed to jury duty for weeks at a time--I spent several weeks on Grand Jury in NY one year). Naturally, we have SSR booked for the second week of February. I wrote to the county stating that we are scheduled to be out of town and have non-refundable airline tickets and asked to be excused for February, and requested they change my month to March or whatever they need. Like the OP, I am not complaining about being called one bit; the timing is simply bad.

 

[MEM]

This happened to me in September of this year. About six weeks before my late August-Labor Day WDW trip, I was told to report for jury duty the day after Labor Day, September 4th, the day I was to fly home. I told them I would be out of town but gave them a wide selection of weeks I would be available.

Well, didn't the SOBs schedule me for my BIRTHDAY!! I could not postpone that, so I showed up as instructed and was impaneled on a trial. The case lasted two days and here in Massachusetts, they pay you exactly nothing. I know people who regularly tear up their summons with the defense "they can't prove I ever received it".

However, one of the jurors on the case with me appeared on the wrong date for his jury duty and they threatened to throw him in jail unless he re-scheduled.

Oh and by the way, here in Mass. most excuses are not accepted. One year DH was called and he informed them that he had an invalid mother to take care of in addition to children ages 1 and 2.
They told him to find a babysitter - I had to take a vacation day and pray that he was not impaneled. During the time of the jury selection he told the judge about our situation and she excused him but it still took the better part of a day.

 

[spiceycat]

Any other time, I would have no problem (even though they only pay $9/day and I don't get reimbursed by my employer).

you don't get reimbursed by your employer and they actually expect you to serve.

sorry I see that as a BIG hardship on your family.

if it is not to late - be sure to include that in your letter.