How Jury Duty Works
Key takeaways
- Most jury service is in state courts. Federal courts call jurors at random, mostly from voter lists, and require them to be citizens at least 18 years old.
- You must respond to a summons, but you can ask to be excused or postpone for hardship. Active military, police, firefighters, and some officials are exempt from federal service.
- Federal jurors are paid 50 dollars a day, and employers may not fire or punish permanent employees for federal jury service.
- Lawyers and judges question potential jurors and can remove them for bias, and each side can strike a few without giving a reason, though not because of race or sex.
- Grand juries decide whether to charge someone, while trial juries decide guilt or liability. Federal criminal trial verdicts must be unanimous.
- Ignoring a federal summons can bring a fine of up to 1,000 dollars, up to three days in jail, or community service.
Jury duty is one of the few ways most Americans take part directly in government, and one of the duties the civics test lists for citizens. Each year millions of people are summoned to state and federal courthouses, and most who serve say afterward that the experience was worthwhile.
This guide explains how jurors are chosen, what to do with a summons, how trial and grand juries work, and what the law requires of jurors and their employers. Rules for state courts vary, so check your summons and your court's website.
A summons gives a date to report and instructions for asking to be excused or to postpone. Active-duty military, professional police and firefighters, and certain public officials are exempt from federal service, and judges may excuse people for undue hardship, such as caring for a young child, serious illness, or financial harm. Many courts use a one-day or one-trial system, so people not chosen on the day they report are done. Federal jurors are paid 50 dollars a day plus travel, and many state courts pay much less. Federal law bars employers from firing or punishing permanent employees for federal jury service, and most states have similar protections.
A grand jury does not decide guilt. It hears evidence from prosecutors in secret and decides whether there is probable cause to charge someone with a crime. Federal grand juries have 16 to 23 members, need 12 votes to indict, and may sit for up to 18 months, usually meeting a few days a month. They almost always indict, though several declined in high-profile cases in 2025. About half the states use grand juries for serious crimes, while others let prosecutors file charges after a preliminary hearing.
Potential jurors for a trial are questioned by the judge and often the lawyers in a process called voir dire, about their backgrounds, opinions, and connections to the case. Either side can ask the judge to remove a juror for cause, such as bias, without limit, and each side has a few peremptory challenges to remove jurors without giving a reason. The Supreme Court has barred using peremptory challenges to exclude jurors because of race or sex, and Arizona abolished them entirely in 2022.
Most jury service is in state and local courts, which handle the great majority of trials. Federal courts choose jurors at random from voter registration lists, often supplemented by driver's license records, under a 1968 law requiring a fair cross section of the community. To serve on a federal jury you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18, a resident of the district for a year, able to read, write, and speak English, and free of a pending felony charge or unrestored felony conviction. Noncitizens cannot serve. Many people receive a qualification questionnaire first and a summons later.
Jury service is a legal duty. A person who fails to appear for federal jury service without a good reason can be ordered to explain to a judge and fined up to 1,000 dollars, jailed for up to three days, or ordered to do community service. State penalties vary. Courts report falling response rates in many places, and some have responded with follow-up summonses and court dates. Reform advocates say higher pay, child care help, and shorter service would bring more people in and make juries more representative.
Trial juries decide whether a defendant is guilty in criminal cases or liable in civil cases. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a jury in criminal trials, and the Seventh in federal civil cases over 20 dollars. Federal criminal juries have 12 members and must be unanimous, and since 2020 state juries must also be unanimous to convict of a serious crime. Federal civil juries have six to twelve members. If jurors cannot agree, the judge declares a mistrial. Jurors are told not to research the case or discuss it until deliberations, and they cannot be punished for their verdicts.
See the constitutional rights behind juries in the Bill of Rights, how a federal case unfolds in how a federal criminal case works, or the courts themselves in the federal courts map.