I’m 27 and have never been called for jury duty. How (un)usual is that? That is, what percentage of people my age in Canada or the US have been called for jury duty? Is there some website with any statistics on what proportion of the population is called for jury duty and/or actually serves on a jury, broken down by age or other demographics?
You can’t come up with any figure that would be comparable across the country. Jury duty is mostly a local matter and each jurisdiction will have its own procedures for calling people and how long they need to serve.
There is also Federal jury duty, but that likely varies throughout each part of the country.
Federal jury duty pays a lot better than local jury duty I believe. And if you really want to cash in, look for a Federal grand jury summons.
Of course, you may have to take 6 months off from work to listen to evidence about some incredibly dull white collar crime case.
I believe they use stratified random sampling.
Chapter 2, “Representative Samples and Jury Selection” in "Applying Statistics in the Courtroom "by Phillip I Good on Google Book Search. (sorry…can’t read it for ya’ =)
Are you registered to vote?
Back east was called up several times, and once spent nine months on a grand jury, but only one day a week. Since moving out west 11 years ago, haven’t been called once, which is OK by me. 
I’m not sure how it works where you are, but here you won’t ever be called unless you’re on the jury roll. This is compiled regularly (every 1-2 years or so I think) by the Sheriff’s office by random sampling from the electoral roll.
If you’re female and have never been registered to vote that might explain it. I believe they pull jury members out of selective service files and voter registries. However, I’m 24 and have never been called even though I’ve been registered to vote since 18, so in many cases it is a crap shoot.
I left Florida more than 2½ years ago and just received my Jury Duty summons. Before that, I think it was about 2 years, so it seems that 4½ years would be a good figure for time between Jury Duty calls. I sent them a FAX to tell them that I no longer live in Florida.
The last time I was called, I spent the day hanging out and was finally dismissed because the defendant copped a plea. The Woman running things said ‘see you in four years’, as I was leaving. When I got home, I checked my records, and, sure enough it had been four years since my last call.
They seem to run through the adult population of my County over a four year timetable, I guess.
The only time I got a jury duty summons it was cancelled a week later. That was 30 years ago and I haven’t been called since. My step daughter on the other hand has received 3 of them, all for a county she does not live. And my state, like many others, no longer use the registered voter roles to obtain jurists, they use the state driver’s license and ID databases.
I served for a week a few weeks ago in the (gulp!) Compton, California court. Not bad, actually. We heard a simple case of resisting arrest and found the defendant not guilty after a half hour of deliberation.
We were told our names were chosen from the roll of registered voters and the list of automobile registrations, and that we can expect to get called on again in about a year.
Yep. Just voted in the federal election yesterday, as a matter of fact.
Actually, many jurisdictions are moving away from using exclusivly the voter registration files for this, fearing that it discourages people from voting.
Often they use other govt files, like driver registration files, or tax files (weeding out corporate/business taxpayers), or even government assistance files (weeding out non-citizens).
But most of them use these in addition to voter registration files, since those are probably the best – they contain ONLY people of legal age, mental competence, and citizens. So no need for a weeding-out process at all.
The last time I was called, I was in college. (more than 10 years ago now)
I had actually recieved a summons for a date that had already passed at my college mailbox. I called the number listed, and said that I didn’t live in that county, and had not recieved the notice prior to the date. They told me not to worry about it.
The time I actually had to go, I had the time to sit on a jury, but alas, all the cases settled prior to needing the jurors, so we were sent home after lunch. Too bad, as I really did want to serve on a jury.
I’ve not recieved a summons yet in NH, nor has my wife (that I’m aware of). She’d be unlikely to be chosen, as she’s a paralegal, and from what I’ve heard, they don’t really like folks like her on juries. I’m registered to vote, drive, and own a car… not sure why I’ve not been called, but as I don’t get paid for time that I don’t work, I’d rather not be called at the moment.
-Butler
Im 33 and have never been called. I have moved once or twice, but I would have throught that with the number of folks that don’t know when summoned I would get flagged. My wife, who has only been a citizen for three years, will probably get called before I do. I know its a pain in the ass to deal with but I would like to get called at least once.
I’m 24. I’ve been called twice. Both times when I lived in a smaller county. Actually made it onto the jury once.
I’m 39. I’m always registered to vote, have a drivers license, and I’ve owned my residences for the last 11 years. I would assume I’m on any list that could be used to select jurors. Yet I’ve never once received a summon for jury duty.
When I got called for jury duty in federal court a year and a half ago, I spoke to the woman in charge of compiling the jury duty lists about how it was done. Some key points I remember:
[ul]
[li]the main list is from voter registration, driver’s license lists and property ownership lists[/li][li]a “formula” such as “every 27th person” or “start with # 12 and and every 30th person after that” is run on the whole list, and those people get a questionaire to fill out and return.[/li][li]Of the ones who returned the questionaire, some are weeded out due to being disqualified for some reason, such as age, disability, recent prior jury duty[/li][li]The ones that don’t return the questionaire, get some sort of Stern Letter (I didn’t ask further questions.)[/li][/ul]
Between local and Federal, I’ve been called 4 times, but only on one jury.
I lived for 15 years in New Jersey, and never got called once. Had a license, and voted every year.
In California I’ve been called four times. The last time I got selected for the trial (which lasted less than 30 seconds before the parties settled.) The judge told us that people who showed up tend to get called more frequently, It’s been just about a year, and nothing yet.
The sick thing is that I’d actually like to be on a jury, since it would be less of a pain for me than most.