# How do you volunteer for jury duty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376 "2010-08-06T06:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/1 "2010-08-06T06:29:40Z")
I have some off time coming up and I was thinking one way I could use it was to finally do jury duty. Like most Americans, I’ve been avoiding it my whole life. Now, since I have time, it seems like a good idea. Who would I contact? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/2 "2010-08-06T06:35:29Z")
I don’t think it’s possible to do this, unless you just happen to get a summons at that time. They call you; you don’t call them. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/3 "2010-08-06T06:40:21Z")
You can’t volunteer for jury duty, and a few moments thought will show why. They don’t want sometimes influential or powerful defendants to have an opportunity to have a jury made up of peole who are well-disposed to them/under an obligation to them/afraid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/4 "2010-08-06T06:40:42Z")
Yeah, I’ve never heard of anyone volunteering for jury duty. If I was picking a jury and knew someone had volunteered, I’d probably go after them on voir dire, hoping to find a challenge for cause. Failing that, I’d probably use a peremptory challenge to get him off the panel. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/5 "2010-08-06T07:09:54Z")
Leaving the original question open… Ok, if I can’t volunteer, how do I get my name back on the summons list? I haven’t been mailed a summons in 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/6 "2010-08-06T08:48:58Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Ok, if I can’t volunteer, how do I get my name back on the summons list? I haven’t been mailed a summons in 20 years. Most (all?) places, you just have to register to vote. Some places expand this to add everyone with a driver’s license. I’ve been a registered voter my entire adult life (almost 40 years) and have gotten only 4 summons. The last one was some 20 years ago or so. Two of those summons came within about a month of each other: one from the state and one from the federal court system. Haven’t actually served on a jury, though. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/7 "2010-08-06T12:25:25Z")
Every jury system I have seen employs a random method of selection. Any other method is subject to challenge. They go to great lengths to assure this randomness. In my big city they use a pre-screening questionnaire sent out in groups. That group is followed through the process until those who qualify are called. Each stage of the process is handled uniformly across the group. Allowing people to routinely select them selves would violate the random theme. I have had cases locally and read of it in other venues where a judge ran short of potential jurors for a case being started. He ordered the bailiff to go out on the street and start picking people randomly to serve. Apparently, this was allowed. So if you feel really lucky, you could stand in front of the court house and wait for a call or you could spend some vacation time sitting in court and observing the proceedings. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/8 "2010-08-06T12:33:45Z")
I sort of volunteered once. My father was called for jury duty the week he died. I had to go the courthouse with a copy of his death certificate to excuse him. I offered to take his place – I was distraught and I guess in my mind I figured it was something I could do for him. They told me it didn’t work that way. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/9 "2010-08-06T13:23:43Z")
Most lawyers will tell you anyone on the panel who really, really wants to be on a jury gets cut. Jurors generally meet their civic duty with resignation tinged with very mild annoyance. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/10 "2010-08-06T13:40:44Z")
Do I want my jury to be comprised of people who couldn’t get out of it? Even worse, people who volunteered for it? Just kidding 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/11 "2010-08-06T13:54:05Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Leaving the original question open… > Ok, if I can’t volunteer, how do I get my name back on the summons list? I haven’t been mailed a summons in 20 years. Contact your local Commissioner of Jurors; they can answer that question. It’s possible in your state that you’re not in the jury pool. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/12 "2010-08-06T14:17:49Z")
I was summoned to jury duty last April. It was explained that the jurors were randomly selected using driver license numbers. I had recently moved back into the area and only a few months earlier updated my new address with the DMV. My mother who has lived here most all of her life excluding college has never been summoned. I wonder if my having made changes with the DMV triggered my DL number to be added to the jury pool while those numbers that have remained static have yet to be added. Just conjecture of course. Some bureaucrat somewhere probably knows for sure. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/13 "2010-08-06T15:19:46Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > Ok, if I can’t volunteer, how do I get my name back on the summons list? I haven’t been mailed a summons in 20 years. > > Most (all?) places, you just have to register to vote. Some places expand this to add everyone with a driver’s license. > > I’ve been a registered voter my entire adult life (almost 40 years) and have gotten only 4 summons. The last one was some 20 years ago or so. Two of those summons came within about a month of each other: one from the state and one from the federal court system. Haven’t actually served on a jury, though. I’ve never been able to figure out how it works, though obviously it relies on a combination of government records such as voter registrations and drivers licenses. Lots of people I know who live around here get called very rarely, or not at all. Yet I get called practically like clockwork, every one or two years. I just got my latest summons this week. ETA: The system here is “one day or one trial”, meaning that you are only on call for one day, and if you don’t get put on a trial you have fulfilled your duty for the year. So while I am called regularly, I haven’t actually sat on a trial in more than ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/14 "2010-08-06T15:52:30Z")
Been a registered voter and licensed driver for the last 27 years. Never been summoned for jury duty once! ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/15 "2010-08-06T16:38:40Z")
In the U.S., jury duty volunteers YOU! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/16 "2010-08-06T16:40:56Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > In the U.S., jury duty volunteers YOU! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/17 "2010-08-06T18:04:31Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I sort of volunteered once. My father was called for jury duty the week he died. I had to go the courthouse with a copy of his death certificate to excuse him. I offered to take his place – I was distraught and I guess in my mind I figured it was something I could do for him. They told me it didn’t work that way. I’m curious. What would they have done to him if you had just ignored the notice? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/18 "2010-08-06T18:39:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Most (all?) places, you just have to register to vote. Some places expand this to add everyone with a driver’s license. In California we were told to be sure that our names on the voter registration list match the name on the drivers license, or else we’d have double the chance. I lived for 15 years in NJ without ever being called. In California it took about 7 years - but after I got selected I get a summons every year. One judge told us that those who report go to the top of the list in a sense. I don’t know if that is true, but it was a judge. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/19 "2010-08-06T18:42:35Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > Every jury system I have seen employs a random method of selection. Any other method is subject to challenge. They go to great lengths to assure this randomness. In my big city they use a pre-screening questionnaire sent out in groups. That group is followed through the process until those who qualify are called. Each stage of the process is handled uniformly across the group. Allowing people to routinely select them selves would violate the random theme. Is this pre-screening to be in the pool or for a particular case? Besides obvious stuff like excluding non-citizens with licenses, most of the questions I’ve gotten are more or less case related - or general stuff like being related to a cop. They’ve also really cracked down on being excused for hardship involving work - you need a note from your manager now. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376/20 "2010-08-06T19:32:48Z")
I’ve never been called. I was overseas in the military the first time I registered to vote and get an absentee ballot. Maybe somehow the system has me flagged as “military/overseas” these 20 years later. Since I actually _do_ work so much of my time out of the country with only infrequent trips home, I still have a nagging paranoia that I’ll come home to a stack of mail that includes a jury summons that’s three months past-due. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-volunteer-for-jury-duty/549376.md?page=2)