In Florida, you are exempt from jury duty at age 70. Under Florida Statutes 40.013(8), anyone who has reached that age is excused from state jury service upon request, with no doctor’s note, hardship showing, or other justification required.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title V Chapter 40 Section 40.013 – Persons Disqualified or Excused From Jury Service The exemption is voluntary. If you’re 70 or older and want to serve, you still can.
One-Time Excusal or Permanent Removal
The age exemption comes in two flavors, and the difference matters.
A one-time excusal handles a single summons. You tell the court you’re 70 or older, and you’re released from that specific date. Your name stays on the jury list, and another summons will eventually arrive.
A permanent excusal removes you from future jury lists entirely. To get it, you must submit a written request. Once processed, no more summonses.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title V Chapter 40 Section 40.013 – Persons Disqualified or Excused From Jury Service
The permanent excusal is also reversible. If you change your mind later, the statute lets anyone who was permanently excused submit a written request to be put back on the jury list, provided they still meet the basic qualifications for service.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title V Chapter 40 Section 40.013 – Persons Disqualified or Excused From Jury Service
How to Ask for the Exemption
Start with the summons itself. Read the instructions before doing anything else. Most Florida counties accept excusal responses by mail, email, fax, or in person at the clerk of court’s office, and some accept them online.2Sumter County Clerk of Courts. Clerks Notification to Jurors Many summonses include a checkbox or a specific line for people 70 and older to indicate they want to be excused.
For a one-time excusal, simply notifying the court that you’re 70 or older is enough. For a permanent excusal, the statute requires a written request. A short letter, or a note on the summons form stating that you’re asking to be removed permanently from the jury pool, is enough to do the job.
You don’t need to submit proof of age. The court can verify your birthdate through the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records used to build the jury list. Keeping a driver’s license, state ID, or passport within reach in case the court follows up is sensible, but nothing more is expected upfront.
One thing to avoid: sitting on the summons. Approval is essentially automatic once you’re 70, but the court has no way of knowing you want out until you say so. Until your request is processed, you are expected to appear on your reporting date.
What Happens If You Ignore the Summons
Skipping a jury summons is a bad idea even when you clearly qualify for an exemption. Florida Statutes 40.23(3) lets a court fine anyone who fails to appear without a sufficient excuse up to $100, and the no-show can also be treated as contempt of court.3Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Title V Chapter 40 Section 40.23 – Summoning Jurors Contempt can bring additional fines or, in unusual cases, a brief jail stay.
In practice, most courts try to resolve a no-show before imposing penalties. A judge may order you to appear and explain what happened. If it was clearly unintentional, courts often reschedule rather than fine. But “I qualified for an exemption anyway” is not a defense worth testing. Sending back the form takes five minutes.
Why Summonses Keep Arriving After You’ve Been Excused
Florida state courts pull juror names exclusively from Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles records. If you hold a Florida driver’s license or state ID card, your name is in the pool.4Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers. How Do I Find Out More About Jury Duty?
A one-time excusal does not remove you from that list. Another summons will show up, and you’ll need to ask for the exemption again. The written permanent excusal is the only way to stop the summonses. If you move to a different county, confirm with the new county’s clerk of court that your permanent excusal transferred, because each county keeps its own jury list drawn from the statewide DHSMV data.
Federal Jury Summonses Are a Separate System
Everything above covers Florida state courts. A summons from a U.S. District Court works differently. No federal statute sets an upper age limit for jury service. Each of the 94 federal district courts sets its own excusal policies, and while many allow people over 70 or 75 to request a permanent excuse, the threshold varies by court and approval is at the judge’s discretion.5United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses
Federal courts also draw names from voter registration lists rather than DHSMV records, so a federal summons can arrive even after you’ve been permanently excused from the Florida state pool. Follow the instructions on the federal form and contact the clerk of the U.S. District Court listed on it. Ignoring a federal summons carries steeper penalties than a state one: fines up to $1,000, up to three days in jail, community service, or a combination.