A jury duty summons letter is a court order directing you to appear for possible jury service, and you are legally required to respond by the deadline printed on it. Ignoring it can lead to fines of up to $1,000, up to three days in jail, community service, or a combination of those penalties. Responding is usually simple: complete the enclosed questionnaire, return it on time, and either report on your assigned date or ask the court to excuse or defer you.
What the Letter Actually Says
Near the top of the summons you’ll find a juror identification number, sometimes called a participant number. The court uses it to track you through the process, and it doubles as your login if your court offers an online response portal. The letter also lists your reporting date, the time to arrive, and the exact location inside the courthouse.
Enclosed with the summons is a juror qualification questionnaire. Federal law requires the court to send this form to everyone drawn from the jury pool. It asks for your name, address, age, citizenship, occupation, education, how long you’ve lived in the judicial district, how far you live from the courthouse, any prior jury service, and whether you have pending criminal charges or past felony convictions. It also asks whether you can read, write, and speak English well enough to serve. Your answers are sworn, though no notary is required.
Do You Have to Serve
Federal jury service has six baseline requirements. You must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18, and a resident of the judicial district for at least one year. You must be able to read, write, and understand English well enough to complete the qualification form. You cannot have a disqualifying mental or physical condition. And you cannot currently face felony charges punishable by more than one year in prison or have a prior felony conviction unless your civil rights have been legally restored.
Three groups are fully exempt: active-duty members of the armed forces or National Guard, members of professional (not volunteer) fire and police departments, and public officers at the federal, state, or local level who are actively performing full-time public duties. If you fall into one of these categories, you can send the court proof of your status and be released from the obligation.
How to Respond on Time
The deadline matters more than the method. Many courts include a pre-addressed envelope for returning the completed questionnaire by mail. A growing number of federal courts also use an online portal called eJuror, where you can fill out the questionnaire, submit excuse or deferral requests, and check your reporting status with the participant number from your summons.
Whichever method you use, keep proof. Note the date you mailed the form, or save a screenshot of the eJuror confirmation page. That record protects you if the court’s files don’t reflect your response.
Submitting the questionnaire doesn’t end your obligation. Most courts run a recorded phone line or online system that updates the evening before your reporting date to say whether your group actually needs to appear. Check it the night before. Earlier groups often cover the caseload, and you may be told to stay home.
Asking to Be Excused or Deferred
If you qualify but genuinely cannot appear on the assigned date, you can ask to be excused entirely or request a deferral to a later date. Deferrals are usually easier to obtain and keep you in good standing. The federal Jury Selection and Service Act lets courts grant temporary deferrals for “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.” Most courts process these requests through the same questionnaire or online portal you use to respond.
Full excuses are harder and sit at the court’s discretion. Common grounds include:
- Medical conditions, supported by a signed statement from your doctor describing why you cannot attend or sit through proceedings.
- Caregiving responsibilities, if you are the sole caretaker for a young child, elderly family member, or person with a disability and no alternative care is available.
- Financial hardship, with evidence that serving would cause extreme loss of necessary income rather than ordinary inconvenience.
- Age, since most federal district courts offer a permanent excuse to people over 70 who request one.
- Recent service, because many courts will excuse you on request if you served on a federal jury within the past two years.
Each of the 94 federal district courts sets its own policies, and those decisions cannot be appealed to Congress or any other body. If you’re unsure whether your situation qualifies, call the clerk’s office listed on your summons before the deadline.
Pay and Job Protection
Federal jurors receive $50 per day of service. The court also reimburses mileage for your round trip to the courthouse; as of 2026, the federal juror mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile. If a trial requires you to stay overnight because you live too far away, the court provides a subsistence allowance for meals and lodging.
State courts set their own rates, and they vary widely. Some pay nothing for the first day or two. Only about 10 jurisdictions require private employers to keep paying your regular wages during service. If your employer doesn’t voluntarily cover jury pay, the daily court fee may be all you receive. Check your employee handbook and your state court’s website before you report.
Federal law makes it illegal for any employer to fire, threaten, intimidate, or punish a permanent employee for serving on a federal jury or being scheduled to serve. An employer who violates this protection is liable for your lost wages and benefits, can be ordered to reinstate you, and faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per employee. A court can also order the employer to perform community service. If you’re reinstated after being wrongfully fired, the law treats your jury service period as a leave of absence, with seniority and benefits intact. Most states have parallel protections for state court service.
Tell your employer as soon as the summons arrives, and give them a copy. You’re not asking permission. You’re informing them of a legal obligation that binds both of you.
What Happens If You Ignore the Summons
Skipping a summons triggers a specific path. The court can order you to appear and explain why you didn’t comply. If you can’t show good cause, a federal judge can fine you up to $1,000, sentence you to up to three days in jail, order community service, or any combination of those penalties. There is no mandatory minimum fine under federal law, only the $1,000 ceiling.
State courts have their own penalty ranges, and some are stricter. The bigger risk is that a bench warrant becomes possible once you’ve ignored both the summons and a follow-up show-cause order. That warrant doesn’t expire. It surfaces the next time you deal with law enforcement for any reason.
If you genuinely never received the summons because you moved or the mail went astray, contact the clerk’s office as soon as you find out. Courts generally recognize that you cannot comply with an order you never saw, and proactive contact almost always resolves the issue without penalties.
Phone Calls About Jury Duty Are a Scam
Scammers routinely call people claiming they missed jury duty and will be arrested unless they pay a fine over the phone. The U.S. Courts have warned that these calls are fraudulent and have no connection to the court system. A few points make the difference clear:
- Real summonses arrive by mail. Federal courts do not summon jurors by phone, email, or text.
- Courts never demand money over the phone. Any fine for missing jury duty is imposed by a judge in a formal proceeding and documented in writing.
- Courts never ask for your Social Security number, credit card number, or bank details by phone or email.
- Caller ID showing a courthouse or sheriff’s office means nothing. Spoofing is easy.
If you get one of these calls, hang up without giving any information. Report it to the clerk of court for your federal district and to the Federal Trade Commission. If you actually did miss a summons, the court will reach you by mail, not with a threatening call demanding gift cards or wire transfers.