I received a summons today. It seems like I get one every year. It requires me to miss a day of work & I never get selected. In essence it is a waste of my time & money.

My question is has anyone ever just not gone? On the summons it says you will be fined at least $100 but no more than $1000. If cost me more missing a day of work. My only concern is that if I skipped they would fine me then summon me again.

Thoughts?

Time it so you enter the court house about 10 minutes late. Many times there are a lot of people sitting down for the attorneys to pick from. The clerk will let you sign in and then will let you leave.

AggieT said:

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How reliable is the mail service in your area?

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I had a jury summons that a response was due on 7/5. I forgot about it after the chaos of July 4th. I couldn't do it online any more so I had to mail mine in. Hopefully it makes it… any day now.

Your company don't pay for jury duty?

I'm just frustrated right now. I am a rule follower so I will go. We have been at our current address for 10+ years. My wife who has the time for jury duty has received a summons once over this time frame. This is number 6 for me (3 in the last 4 years). I am commission based so I don't get paid the day I take off and the previous 5 times they cut me loose after the first day.

ag0207 said:

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and the previous 5 times they cut me loose after the first day.

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Id love to serve on a jury. Unfortunately, they have cried wolf way too many times for me to take them seriously.

Worked at a bank when I was in college....the security guard at the bank was a bailiff. We were talking about jury duty/summons one day, and his comment was, if they don't send the summons certified mail or with some form of tracking, then they have no way of knowing who received them and who did not. The comment was made in the context that many people just round file jury summons when received.

Always found his comments interesting.

I'm the same way. Been called once since 2015. My wife has been called at least 5 times to multiple courts. Both are registered voters, have drivers license, etc. So we should both be on all the same lists they pull from.

My wife has been selected more than I've been summoned.....

I still go every time I'm summoned. Got off easy this year, I was notified the day before that the case was settled and I didn't need to report.

Summoned to half day JP court with couple of hundred other people. Another session scheduled for the other half day. We all sat there while people did stuff with the judge. Couple hours later, he dismissed all of us to the lobby where he came out and thanked us for our critical civic duty. He said that people who run stop signs and request jury trials suddenly plea out when they see us all there. Not a single trial happened, and if they did, it was for traffic types violations.

In closing, he said if we wanted to donate our $7 check, go stand in line at that window!

If they want more people to show up, they need to use technology and other means to make it less taxing on people. The process, especially for us in big cities, takes extensive time and energy that could easily be remedied.

I get the idea this is critical to our judicial system, but the vast majority of people simply waste a day participating for nothing.

commission based was a poor choice of words (lack of sleep typing). Performance based is a better description.

I was going through a super busy time at work and totally forgot about jury duty. I never received anything saying I missed and I never contacted the court to own up to it.

I plan on going, I'm just irritated about it.

It is not the fact that I have jury duty but more so it is the frequency. Like I said I have received a summons numerous times in the last few years. My wife has been called once in 10 years. We have multiple people in our office that have lived here most of their lives/their entire lives and have not been called upon.

I agree with the post above that we should use technology to facilitate it. People should be removed from the pool if they have served or summoned recently in place of people that have not. Why can't we electronically submit the questionnaire that you fill out on the first day? If that was an option I guarantee you I wouldn't even have to show up.

I would be more than happy to do my civic duty, but based upon past experiences I will have to cancel a full day schedule of work. I will show up and answer the questionnaire. Sit around, have to come back after lunch to be told they don't need/want me.

ag0207 said:

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I plan on going, I'm just irritated about it.

It is not the fact that I have jury duty but more so it is the frequency. Like I said I have received a summons numerous times in the last few years. My wife has been called once in 10 years. We have multiple people in our office that have lived here most of their lives/their entire lives and have not been called upon.

I agree with the post above that we should use technology to facilitate it. People should be removed from the pool if they have served or summoned recently in place of people that have not. Why can't we electronically submit the questionnaire that you fill out on the first day? If that was an option I guarantee you I wouldn't even have to show up.

I would be more than happy to do my civic duty, but based upon past experiences I will have to cancel a full day schedule of work. I will show up and answer the questionnaire. Sit around, have to come back after lunch to be told they don't need/want me.

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maybe you should contact the court and ask why you're being summoned so many times.

I was told by a judge that it was my civic duty. I was trying to get out of jury duty, was too close to the tax deadline, I had a lot to do and couldn't afford to spend time on a jury. When he said it was my civic duty, I told him that isn't a road he wants to go down. I told him I did more for the community as a volunteer than he and the DA and the three other attorneys did, combined. That I never saw any of them doing any community service, in fact about the only time the elected ones show up in public events is right before the election. In the back and forth I said I bet their church attendance spikes at election time as well, lol. He looked over at the gal and said "give the man his six dollars" and I got released.