Canyon County Jury Duty: Summons, Pay, and Employer Rules

If you’ve been summoned for Canyon County jury duty, your first task is to complete the Juror Qualification Questionnaire within ten days of the date it was mailed, then check the Juror Access Website or the automated jury phone line after 6:00 p.m. the evening before your reporting date to see whether your group number is actually called in. Jurors report to the Canyon County District Court at 1115 Albany Street in Caldwell, and most people are done within a week.¹

Returning the Questionnaire

The ten-day deadline for the questionnaire comes from Idaho Supreme Court rules and is enforced strictly. Ignore it and the court can order you to appear in person before the clerk or jury commissioner to complete it, with contempt on the table if you still don’t comply.²

The fastest route is online through the Idaho Juror Access Website, using the candidate ID printed on your summons. You can also mail the paper form back or drop it off in person at the Office of the Jury Commissioner in the Canyon County Courthouse. Lost your summons? Call the Jury Commissioner at 208-454-7351 and the office can look up your information and walk you through it.³

Who Qualifies

To serve, you must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Canyon County, at least 18, and able to read, speak, and understand English. Two things disqualify you: a felony conviction that stripped your voting rights and hasn’t been restored, or a physical or mental condition that prevents you from serving. For a condition-based disqualification, the court can require a physician’s certificate and may contact the doctor who signed it.⁴

Postponing or Being Excused

Idaho has no automatic exemptions, and the court prefers moving your date to letting you off entirely. A postponement is usually a one-time reschedule to a specific future date.

To postpone, submit a written statement giving the reason and estimating when it will no longer apply. Grounds include undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, public necessity, and being a mother who is breastfeeding a child. A medical postponement may require a note from your healthcare provider.

Full excusal is narrower. If you’re 70 or older, you can request permanent excusal simply by saying so on the questionnaire, and you can undo that later in writing if you change your mind. Anyone who has served on a jury or answered a roll call within the past 24 months can also request excusal.⁴ Send excusal and postponement requests through the questionnaire itself or directly to the Canyon County Jury Commissioner.

What Happens If You Skip It

If you fail to appear or otherwise fail to complete jury service as directed, the court orders you to show up and explain why. Without good cause, you can be held in criminal contempt: up to a $300 fine, up to three days in jail, or both.⁵ The same escalation applies to the questionnaire. If serving is impossible, use the postponement or excusal process instead of going silent.

Reporting Day

Jurors report to 1115 Albany Street in Caldwell. Parking is in the lot directly across the street from the courthouse entrance.¹

Everyone entering passes through security with a metal detector. Leave pocket knives, pepper spray, scissors, and similar items at home. Cell phones are generally allowed in the building, but you’ll be told to switch them off in the courtroom.

There is no strict dress code. Business casual is the safe choice; skip shorts and uniforms. Courtroom temperatures vary, so layers help.

Check the Night Before

Your term of service is typically one week. After 6:00 p.m. the evening before your scheduled date, check the Juror Access Website or call the automated jury phone system to see whether your group number needs to appear. If it isn’t called, you may not have to come in at all. Jurors who report but aren’t seated on a trial panel are generally released and considered done for the term.¹

What to Bring

Expect downtime in the jury assembly area. Bring a book, a charger, or quiet work. Public Wi-Fi at the courthouse is limited or nonexistent. Snacks and water are worth packing since food access during breaks can be tight, particularly in the morning.

Pay and Mileage

Canyon County pays the statutory minimum: $5.00 for a half day (four hours or less) and $10.00 for a full day (more than four hours).¹ Idaho law lets county commissioners set higher rates, but Canyon County has not. If you live more than 30 miles from the courthouse, the minimum half-day rate doubles to $10.00.⁶

You also get mileage reimbursement for the round trip between home and the courthouse, at whatever rate the Canyon County Commissioners have set for county employees.⁶ Payment arrives by mail after your service ends, usually within about a month.

Your Job While You Serve

Idaho law prohibits your employer from firing, threatening, or retaliating against you because you were summoned, responded, or served. A violation is criminal contempt and carries a fine of up to $300. If you’re actually terminated for serving, you have 60 days to sue for triple the wages you lost plus reinstatement, and a winning plaintiff also gets reasonable attorney’s fees.⁷

Private employers in Idaho are not required to pay your regular wages while you serve. The daily juror fee may be your only income for those days unless your employer chooses to keep paying you. If you’re a salaried exempt employee, federal rules add a layer: your employer can’t dock your salary for a partial-week absence caused by jury duty, though they can offset any jury fees you received against your salary for that week.⁸

Disability Accommodations

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires the court to provide reasonable accommodations. If you need wheelchair access, an assistive listening device, or a sign language interpreter, contact the Canyon County Jury Commissioner’s office as early as possible after receiving your summons. Service animals are permitted in court facilities.

An accommodation is not the same as an excusal. If accommodations would let you serve, that’s the path the court prefers. If your condition makes service impossible even with them, that’s a disqualification under the incapacity provision, which requires a physician’s certificate.

Taxes on Jury Pay

Jury pay is taxable income. Report it on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8h, regardless of the amount. If your employer kept paying your salary and required you to hand over your jury pay, still report the full jury pay as income, then deduct the amount you gave your employer on Schedule 1, line 24a, so the same money isn’t taxed twice.⁹

1
Canyon County Government. Canyon County Jury Duty Rules and Requirements
2
Idaho Supreme Court. Appendix A to Rule 62(c) – Juror Qualification Questionnaire
3
Third Judicial District of Idaho. Jury – Third Judicial District of Idaho
4
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 2-206 – Master and County Jury Lists of Registered Voters
5
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 2-217 – Penalty for Evasion of Jury Service
6
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 2-215 – Mileage and Per Diem of Jurors
7
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 2-218 – Employer Prohibited From Penalizing Employee for Jury Service
8
eCFR. 29 CFR 541.602 – Salary Basis
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income