KWR: Jury Duty

You can write a letter to them and say that you are getting married that week. They should excuse you for important personal events like that. I was summoned in 2007, wrote a letter that I was in school out of state with no car of my own, and was excused. I haven't been summoned since (knock on wood). Although FH gets summoned a lot and when I change my name that will probably put me on the list lol.

ETA this was in IL, not sure how it works in other states.

Usually (at least in NY) they will ask if there's any reason you would be unable to serve on a jury. I have never seen/heard of anyone not being released the instant they mentioned wedding, honeymoon, or any other planned vacation.

And I have worked in courts, sat in on jury selection, and am currently a law student with friends who do this too.

If you're in the pool, they'll interview you. At that point let them know of your wedding and honeymoon. I had a similar situation with a trip - got called Friday and due to a hurricane, wasn't sure if I would make it back to court Monday. I was dismissed.

Tell them you're getting married? Lots of things operate as excuses to not have to go. If it doesn't work and you have to go the first day (or if you want to go the first day) they usually ask about major scheduling conflicts, if they don't ask bring it up yourself.

Eek! I served jury duty before and I agree it's something neat to do that I think everyone should do. Most likely, you'd get a case that would end after a few days (at the most). However, it is possible a case could last longer than that. You'll call the night before to find out if you're selected to show up on the date listed. If you are, you should go. You'll be questioned about a few things, one of them being do you have any obligations that serving on the jury would not be feasible. You can mention the wedding and honeymoon and see what the judge (or whoever is asking) says. I feel like this might be a legitimate get-out-of-jury-duty reason, but I'm not sure.

Thank you guys - I just didn't know what to expect or what the process is. Like if you get selected do you start jury duty that same day or is that when they schedule it.

I got summoned but was going on vacation that week. I just called them and they were fine with it. Super pleasant! They might want to have something in writing, but either way you should be fine.

Check out the website for the court. There should be something about a deferment request.

I did that for an oot wedding we were attending. I attached the invitation and airline reservation.

Worked a charm!

It's not as entertaining as you think, lol. You're put in a room all day long with a bunch of other people. Watch some cheesy video & then sit there until they decide they need a jury. There were 5 or 6 cases that day....My group didn't even get picked as a jury so I literally spent 8 hours in a room doing nothing (should have brought my work laptop).

Anyway- being that close to the wedding, that's enough reason to be excused.

I've been summonsed a few times. In Massachusetts, you have the option to request to defer your jury duty (it's included in the instructions in the summons). Although I've never done it, I think you can defer up to a year.

The alternative is to show up and A) hope you do not get selected to a jury pool; or B) get selected into a jury pool and explain you're getting married and going on your honeymoon that week. Either of these option fulfills your civic obligation, and you're taken out of the pool for a while.

You'll want to check your state laws on how to go about deferring, if that's what you choose to do. There should be a phone number or website on the summons - you can use them find this information.

Defer if you can. Our county allows a 6 month deferral.

At least in CT, you don't serve right away. You go for selection, they tell you the date the trial will start (usually a few weeks away), and then they ask if anyone has any conflicts.

OP, I really promise you that you do NOT want to be selected. I used to want to be selected. I thought it would be really cool. I was very wrong (it's a long story.)

Also, if you just call and ask to speak to the jury manager they'll definitely give you a new date a couple of months later, no problem.

Thanks everyone! I tried calling but just got a machine. I then emailed the juror coordinator this morning and explained the situation. I got a response about half an hour ago saying although it normally lasts 1-2 days, they can't promise it won't be longer. They advised that I defer the date. I could do this by going to the website, select deferral and state the deferral reason as vacation. I then choose a date. They processed it and I should be receiving new date notice in the mail.

Request to delay it.

I think you can postpone it for a qualifying reason, at least in our county, not sure about others. Not sure if wedding and honeymoon count, I sure hope it would! I'd try and postpone rather than go in the hopes of it being quick, and risk getting put on a case that you then can't get out of. Call and see what they say. BTW jury duty is awesome! But yeah, the timing sucks! ETA: just saw your update, that's great!

Most of the time, in my area at least, they're cancelled and you don't even need to turn up. Fingers crossed for you!

Check state laws but generally you are allowed to postpone about 3x for the 1st postponement you don't even need to give a valid reason. These days its done by an automated machine or online.

ETA: just read your update. Happy for you.

I wish I could go for you! I love jury duty lol.

I told them i have a biased opinion because most my family is in law enforcement, haven't seen another one in over 10 years