You are eligible for jury duty in federal court if you are a United States citizen, at least 18 years old, have lived in the judicial district for at least one year, can read, write, speak, and understand English, and have no disqualifying criminal record or condition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service Federal law also forbids excluding anyone from a jury based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or economic status.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1862 – Discrimination Prohibited Meeting the basic requirements is only the first question, though. Several job categories carry automatic exemptions, and courts can excuse or postpone service for people whose circumstances make it a genuine hardship.
The Five Basic Requirements
Federal jury eligibility rests on five conditions set out in the Jury Selection and Service Act. You must be a U.S. citizen. You must be at least 18. You must have lived within the judicial district where you are summoned for at least one continuous year. You must be able to read, write, speak, and understand English well enough to complete the juror qualification form and follow what happens in court. And you must be physically and mentally capable of serving.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service
The language rule is stricter than it sounds. The statute treats speaking English and reading and writing it as separate requirements, so falling short on either is disqualifying. Non-citizens are ineligible even if they are lawful permanent residents who have lived in the district for decades.
How a Criminal Record Affects Eligibility
A criminal record can disqualify you entirely. Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison — in state or federal court — is barred from federal jury service unless their civil rights have been restored.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service What matters is the potential sentence, not the time actually served. A conviction carrying a possible two-year sentence disqualifies you even if the judge gave you probation.
Pending charges at that same severity level also disqualify you until the case is resolved. Offenses with a maximum sentence of one year or less do not trigger disqualification at all.
Restoration of civil rights reopens the door. How that happens varies by jurisdiction and may involve a governor’s pardon, an expungement, or a specific court order. If you fall in this category, check the rules of the state or federal court where the conviction occurred, because the process is not uniform.
Disability and Capacity
The statute disqualifies anyone whose physical or mental condition prevents them from providing satisfactory jury service.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service In practice the rule targets long-term conditions that genuinely prevent someone from staying attentive, processing evidence, and deliberating. A short-term illness like the flu usually leads to a postponement, not a permanent bar.
Having a disability does not automatically make you ineligible. Federal courts provide accommodations such as sign language interpreters and assistive listening devices, and they give primary consideration to the juror’s own choice of accommodation. The question is whether some accommodation would allow effective service, not whether a disability exists.
Jobs That Automatically Exempt You
Three categories of workers are exempt from federal jury service by law. You do not have to request these exemptions; they apply whether or not you want to serve.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1863 – Plan for Random Jury Selection
- Members of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty.
- Members of fire or police departments at the state, territorial, or local level.
- Public officers in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches at any level of government who are actively performing official duties.
The “public officer” category is narrower than it looks. Federal law defines it to mean someone either elected to public office or directly appointed by someone who was elected.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC Chapter 121 – Juries, Trial by Jury A career civil servant hired through a normal application process does not qualify for this exemption even though they work for the government.
Hardship Excuses and Deferrals
You can meet every eligibility rule, hold no exempt job, and still get excused or rescheduled. Federal courts can excuse jurors whose service would cause “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.”6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1863 – Plan for Random Jury Selection Each of the 94 federal district courts writes its own jury plan setting out which groups can be permanently excused on request and what counts as sufficient hardship.
Groups many districts recognize for excusal include people over 70 and volunteer firefighters or rescue squad members.7United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses Full-time students are not specifically listed in the federal statute, but they may qualify under the general hardship standard depending on the district. The same goes for sole caregivers, people facing serious financial strain, and anyone whose circumstances make serving genuinely impractical.
A deferral is a different request. You are not asking to get out of jury duty; you are asking to serve on a later date. Courts are generally willing to grant one deferral when you have a legitimate scheduling conflict. Excusal decisions sit entirely within the court’s discretion and cannot be appealed outside the court.7United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses If you qualify for either, contact the court listed on your summons as early as you can.
What Happens If You Ignore a Summons
A jury summons is a court order. If you fail to appear, the district court can order you in to explain yourself, and if you cannot show good cause, the judge can fine you up to $1,000, sentence you to up to three days in jail, order community service, or impose any combination of those penalties.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels
The same penalties apply if your name was drawn from the master jury wheel and you failed to return your juror qualification form within the required ten days.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1864 – Drawing of Names From the Master Jury Wheel Most courts send a second notice with new paperwork and a shortened five-day deadline before escalating. Ignoring that triggers a show-cause order.
State Courts Set Their Own Rules
These rules govern federal jury service. State courts follow their own statutes, and the eligibility criteria are not always identical. Most states track the federal baseline of citizenship, age 18, residency, and English proficiency, but some add conditions or define hardship differently. A few states restore jury eligibility to people with felony convictions automatically after completion of sentence, while others maintain a lifetime bar without a pardon. If your summons came from a state or county court, the specific rules will be on the summons itself or on that court’s website.