Failure to Respond to Jury Summons

RN2B-2011 · Nov 28, 2009

I had just started taking pre reqs last year and received my summons for jury duty. I tried to get out of it but here in LA if you are not in school full time, they will not exempt you. However, as a full time nursing school student, they would have excused me. You may want to make the call to verify. Good luck.

Quidam · Nov 28, 2009

You should have responded when you received the 1st notice. There is a process for requesting to b e excused. I was called twice in October and just requested to be excused due to being in nursing school and was each time with no problem. Sounds like you failed to respond at all and that is a big no no! Good luck getting this straightened out. I bet it takes more time than requesting an excuse to begin with. Just follow your instructions to the letter this time.

roser13, ASN, RN · Nov 28, 2009

Clinical/lecture/lab is not a valid reason to miss jury duty. Once you have served in any type of civic duty position, you will understand why jury duty is required.

Think about it this way: If, due to unfortunate circumstance, you are wrongfully accused of a crime.....would you want a jury of your peers, or a jury of whoever wasn't busy that day?

Angeljho, MSN, NP · Nov 28, 2009

Sounds like you failed to respond at all and that is a big no no!
Yup, I didn't respond. I was and still am ignorant on this whole jury duty thing. I was so focused on school that I just ignored it completely. And now I have interviews lined up and I'm a new grad so my chances at hire are slim to begin with. I am going to be upset if I have to reschedule or possibly cancel any interviews because I have to serve mandated jury duty as a result of non-compliance.

Freedom42 · Nov 28, 2009

Respectfully, if all you have to do is reschedule or cancel job interviews, you'll have gotten off lightly. Ignoring a summons to jury duty is punishable in many if not most states by criminal charges and jail time. If I were you, I'd call authorities immediately to find out what you can do to mitigate the circumstances.

I'm surprised to read that another poster was released because s/he was in nursing school. That wouldn't fly in my neck of the woods. Years ago my father was self-employed, explained that to the judge -- and was promptly impaneled on a jury for six weeks. Civic duty is just that.

ChuckE · Nov 28, 2009

Doing your civic duty doesn't mean you have to bankrupt yourself.

In Arizona (Maricopa County) there is a check box that says serving jury duty would affect your means to earn a living. Being self employed would fit that to a T. All you would need to write a letter of explanation to accompany that reply form.

Respectfully, if all you have to do is reschedule or cancel job interviews, you'll have gotten off lightly. Ignoring a summons to jury duty is punishable in many if not most states by criminal charges and jail time. If I were you, I'd call authorities immediately to find out what you can do to mitigate the circumstances.
I'm surprised to read that another poster was released because s/he was in nursing school. That wouldn't fly in my neck of the woods. Years ago my father was self-employed, explained that to the judge -- and was promptly impaneled on a jury for six weeks. Civic duty is just that.

roser13, ASN, RN · Nov 28, 2009

"All you would need to write a letter of explanation to accompany that reply form. "

It can be as easy as that to excuse yourself from jury duty with a valid response. But failing to respond to a summons will be taken quite seriously. As it should be.

MedSurgeMess · Nov 28, 2009

In Indiana, they don't really care either, at least not in my part.....got called while in nursing school full time. Judge didn't really care. I got out of it when the offender plead just before opening arguments. And yes, you can be jailed and or fined for missing. I hope this doesn't reflect negatively on your record. Just take it as a lesson learned and hopefully not repeated.

Freedom42 · Nov 28, 2009

Arizona law does not say you may be excused if you're self-employed. It says you may be excused if service will make it difficult for you to pay your daily living expenses. That's completely different; otherwise, the self-employed who are well-off would never serve. As the Maricopa County jury page notes, there is no single excuse to get out of jury duty in Arizona except being age 75 or older.

ShortStackRN · Nov 28, 2009

I was called up for jury duty this semester and there was NO way I could have gone. I just went to the courthouse with a copy of my schedule and they excused me until next year when they will call me again. Unfortunately, you have to at least respond to these things because they will issue a bench warrant if you just ignore their request. See if you can get in touch with someone at the Clerk of Court or go by the courthouse and get it straightened out...I'm sure they will understand!

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Nov 28, 2009

yes you have to atleast respond or the police could be knocking at your door. i just got one myself and called right away. the jury summons said in big red letters to call right away and i took heed to that warning... because there could be big trouble if you don't .. serious business...