My sister just got called for jury duty and is almost losing her mind. She’s self employed as a small business owner, 100% responsible for financially supporting the household, and a spouse with health issues who doesn’t work. She would have ZERO income for at least two months. She works seventy hours a week at landscaping and gardening, and is beyond swamped with work. . There is no employer to reimburse her for this. There is nothing. This is insane. This would put and her partner back for years to come and shove them into such a financial hole that I don’t even know how long it would take to get out of it. There has to be a way out. There just has to be. She wrote a letter to the judge explaining the situation but hasn’t heard anything back yet. If the worst happens… I promised to try to do some research for her. Does anyone have any ideas for what to do in this situation?
Which state?
In California, the notice lays out reasons for excusal.
I would think that the reasons laid out would be enough.
In California, if your excuse/reason is accepted, the court does not respond back.
Oh, be careful there. The court I worked for in California was not like this. They required you to appear on the first day of jury duty to plead your case for hardship in person. No exceptions. Every county is different.
But take heart, OP. Probably 85% of the time, your sister will be excused before she ever needs to make a single appearance. Usually the prospective jurors are required to call in the night before their service to learn if they need to actually appear or not.
If she does have to appear, I suggest she do so and then raise her concerns to the jury commissioner in her county. Sometimes the jury commissioner has the authority to excuse a PJ before they ever have to go to a courtroom. If that doesn’t work, just go with the flow. Chances are excellent that she’ll serve exactly 1 day and that will be the end of it until she is called again.
“At least two months”? Do you know something you’re not telling us? Because even in the unlikely event she has to appear (as said, most people don’t even need to go in) and she isn’t sent home (of those called in, most never even see the inside of a courtroom), and she is selected for a jury (unlikely given her legitimate hardship excuse), it’s really unlikely the trial lasts “at least two months”. Very few cases last that long.
Wow, didn’t know that. The three counties I’ve lived in were identical. You could ask for excusal on the notice form and you only were contacted if it was refused.
You’d think there would be some uniformity across the state.
Call the local Commissioner of Jurors (or whatever it’s called in your state). You’ll get the correct information there, not here.
Not if she’s on a grand jury, which can have a term of several months (though often only one day a week during that period).
In all of the many states I’ve lived in being a “sole proprietor” was an automatic excuse; hopefully that applies where she lives. As others have pointed out the rules can change from state to state and even county to county.
And you know, there might be, now. It’s some years since I worked in this field. But just as a precaution, I didn’t want someone assuming it was the case they were automatically excused if they didn’t hear back.
Agree with RealityChuck, contact the Jury Commissioner in your venue and find out what your sister must do. I hadn’t thought about grand jury duty, and that could certainly be the situation.
Thanks all! I’ll ask her to show me the original letter… we were both just kind of flipping out today and not processing a lot of rational thought. What she did say, though, was that the letter stated the trial would be at least seven weeks. We’re in Oregon, btw.
I found this web site it might help you get some answers you’re looking for.
I will pass this on to sis! 
We are in Clackamas Cty, though, not Multnomah.
I see you are here for advice to help your sister shirk her civic duty. Who doesn’t want to get out of jury duty?
Before I share any advice with you, I need to know: does your sister vote?
Oh please. She has sole financial responsibility for her family, she pays taxes, she doesn’t have to prostrate herself on the government’s floor.
ADvice? Moved from General Questions to IMHO.
samclem, moderator.
Not American, but it seems rather counter-intuitive to only reply if one is refusing a request. How does the petitioner know not to turn up ?
It does seem a little prone to false positives (e.g. your letter asking to be excused, or their letter saying “nuh-uh” gets lost in the post - you think you’re off the hook, but you’re not.)
Yes, if she doesn’t have money for 7 weeks, she can eat cake!
In Pennsylvania I make a phone call and explain that my absence from my sole proprietorship creates a hardship for my employees who do not work/get paid if I’m not there. I’d love to do jury duty, and if the state would pay my employees I’d be able to afford it, but that ain’t gonna happen.
Not in NY. You can be called for Grand Jury duty and be obligated to come very day, stay every day, for a minimum of a month. No excuses. Almost zero ways to get out of it.
The only choices are deferral to a later time or coming once a week for a year.
And if the OP’s sister had been called for grand jury duty, the OP would, as I said, “know something she’s not telling us”. Plus I said most trials or cases don’t last that long. Grand jury duty isn’t a single trial or case, at least not normally.