# Jury duty once a month for a year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645 "2006-01-26T01:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/1 "2006-01-26T01:45:00Z")
A friend of a friend is claiming this… that he’s got to go to Jury Duty one day a month, every month, for a few year. We’re thinking he’s got something else going on - community service or trying to avoid someone. Still, we’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Has anyone heard of this? Does any state do Jury Duty this way? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/2 "2006-01-26T01:56:14Z")
Parole officer meetings? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/3 "2006-01-26T02:03:01Z")
Sounds fishy. Where does the FOAF live? Also in the UP? I think that jury duty varies from state to state (heck, even from county to county). Around here there’s a “one day or one trial” rule (you come in one time and if you aren’t needed that day, your duty is done, period. If you are needed then it’s for that one trial and then you are done, period. I think that this is for a given calendar year). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/4 "2006-01-26T02:12:32Z")
Could be almost anything _except_ jury duty; probation officer meeting, community service, some kind of superstition, attendance at some regular entertainment event, visiting a prostitute, medical treatment… But it sounds a most unlikely pattern for jury duty; too extensive and potentially too disruptive, and there’s a limit to the burden that most justice systems normally seek to impose upon regular citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/5 "2006-01-26T02:21:01Z")
I once served on a grand jury that met once a month for 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/6 "2006-01-26T02:27:49Z")
It’s entirely possible he’s on a grand jury. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/7 "2006-01-26T02:37:30Z")
I once almost ended up on a grand jury which was going to meet once a month for at least 6 months. Instead, I ended up on a grand jury which met every other day for four weeks. According to this [http://www.udayton.edu/~grandjur/faq/faq1.htm](http://www.udayton.edu/~grandjur/faq/faq1.htm) , grand juries can sit for a long time ( up to 36 months for the Feds) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/8 "2006-01-26T02:39:49Z")
I third Grand Jury. I had a coworker tell me that same steaming pile of shit last year. That is, I was sure that was impossible until I looked it up and found out she really did have to miss work and call in over a long period of time (I forget what it was but it was long like your friend’s). I suppose I should have apologized to her. Serving on Grand Juries really can be over a very long period and each jury may sit through many, many cases over the course of serving. I can easily see how serving on that type of jury can be a real (but not big enough) problem for some people. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/9 "2006-01-26T02:39:58Z")
Quick search shows that there are both state and federal grand juries in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/10 "2006-01-26T03:39:30Z")
Thanks all. I guess the guy is telling the truth. I had no idea, and now Mr. Athena owes someone an apology. The kicker is that after I wrote the OP, Mr. Athena said “mention than he said it was a GRAND jury.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/11 "2006-01-26T03:47:13Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > A friend of a friend is claiming this… that he’s got to go to Jury Duty one day a month, every month, for a few year. We’re thinking he’s got something else going on - community service or trying to avoid someone. Still, we’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Has anyone heard of this? Does any state do Jury Duty this way? I think I recently heard from DE friends that DE does it this way - for regular juries. What a pain! I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I had not heard this first-hand. - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/12 "2006-01-26T03:48:16Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I think I recently heard from DE friends that DE does it this way - for regular juries. What a pain! I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I had not heard this first-hand. - Jinx FYI: DE = Delaware. Sometimes, DE can signify Germany, but not in this case! -Jinx ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-duty-once-a-month-for-a-year/341645/13 "2006-01-26T03:56:50Z")
Back in the 70’s I was on a Federal Grand Jury. We met one or two days a month for 18 months. In St. Charles County Missouri, a fellow I worked with was on a Petit Jury (trial jury). He served for three months. They called in on Sunday evening to find out if there were needed to serve on any trial that week. IIRC, he served on four trials in three months. This also was in the 70’s. Don’t know if they still do it that way.