Jurt Duty in the US

No Place Like Home

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2013
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Got called for Jury duty. Only problem is I'm not their and have no plans to to be there. If I have to go, this could be a very last minute expense. Any advice on getting out of this?
 

jstarebel

Silver
Oct 4, 2013
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Send a letter (certified return receipt requested) *telling them you are out of the country. I would include a photocopy of the passport page with the current stamp on it. Easy.*
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Check the notice, sometimes they list an e-mail address to respond to.

As posted above, explain you are temporary out of the country, not sure when you will be back, etc.

Copy of passbook entries should not be needed.

Been there, done that!



PS: Your e-mail should show that it originated from out of the country.
 
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Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
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As above, send a letter advising the court that you are travelling abroad and therefore are not available. Avoid telling the court that you do not live in the USA. The court should rescind your summons and put you back into the pool of potential jurors for a future case. It would be preferable to have someone hand deliver your request to the court if that is possible. This way, you'll know immediately whether or not your request has been successful. Otherwise, if you do not receive a reply from the court and it is getting close to the date you have been ordered to appear you may need to call to verify that you have been removed from the potential juror list.*

Try not to leave this to the last minute. Not appearing as ordered may affect the status your driver license and possibly result in a warrant that might prove inconvenient the next time you try to fly home.*

If the letter doesn't work for some reason, hire a paralegal (cheaper than a lawyer) or have a family member appear on your behalf to explain to the court why you are not there. Travelling as an excuse should work once, but it might not work the next time, should that day ever arrive.*
 

No Place Like Home

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2013
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thanks, I replied to their email address and am waiting for a reply. As for the passport stamp. They stopped stamping passports in the US and the last time I arrived in the DR they too did not stamp it. I asked both places and they said not necessary.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
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The date you left the US is on file in the CBP database. If the court needs to verify that (not likely), they know how.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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I never received a response from the time I did the e-mail route.

Been back and forth several times in 2-3 years since.
No problems, no further letters, etc.

Many years earlier also got a notice of jury duty, my son called them and explained that I was out of the country. Took a few times for him to repeat it to the clerk, he asked what part of out of the country did they not understand, they were not too bright I was told.
 
Jan 9, 2004
10,898
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Got called for Jury duty. Only problem is I'm not their and have no plans to to be there. If I have to go, this could be a very last minute expense. Any advice on getting out of this?



Assuming this is from your home state, jury duty and its responsibilities are state specific. Some states will let you postpone service for up to one year. Check with your jurisdiction first.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2*
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
Mr AE got called for jury duty for January '15 and we emailed to say we'd be out of the country then for over 4 months. They responded that he was excused, and rescheduled for June. :( *

I suspect they're used to this in the colder climates, lots of snowbirds.*
 

drescape24

Bronze
Nov 2, 2011
1,918
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My daughter who lives in Germany got jury duty assignment. ( because she has a N.J. drivers licience)
I went to the county court house and explained the situation to the jury department and they removed her from the rolls. Very easy in Ocean County. I assume Atlantic would be the same.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

SomebodySmart

Member
Oct 24, 2015
194
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Check with a lawyer in your State. My angle would be, you were never properly served with a legal process requiring you to appear, i.e. a regular mail letter got forwarded to you but nothing certified for which you would have personally signed a postal receipt, and certainly no bureaucrat from your State went to DR to serve the papers.
 

Garyexpat

Bronze
Sep 7, 2012
2,105
739
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I got a notice (or my ex did) about 7 years ago. I never did anything. I figured that if there was a problem I would use my passport to show that I was out of the country.
Probably a better idea to send a letter but I never had any problem from being a no show.

By the way it was in Miami Fl.