# What are the odds of a US registered voter going \> 25 years without being called for jury duty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546 "2010-02-03T17:17:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/41 "2010-02-04T22:56:15Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I thought the accepted wisdom was that the odds of any lawyer slipping through voir dire and being seated on a jury was effectively nil. Jury selection 101, as it were. I know of local police officers and lawyers that have served on juries. We do have a more limited pool to select from in this part of the state though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/42 "2010-02-04T23:04:02Z")
I’ve been wondering this myself. I’ve had a California drivers license since 1969 and I’ve been registered to vote here since 1972, and I’ve never received a notice of any kind. That’s probably a good thing; I hear there’s a lot of hurry up and wait involved with jury selection and trials. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/43 "2010-02-04T23:27:01Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I thought the accepted wisdom was that the odds of any lawyer slipping through voir dire and being seated on a jury was effectively nil. Jury selection 101, as it were. ["Duty Calls: More Lawyers Are Taking Their Seats on Juries, Living the Trial Experience, Learning From It — And Loving It](http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/duty_calls1/)", _ABA Journal_, April 2005. ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/44 "2010-02-04T23:40:48Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > I finally got my first call ever this year. I’m 38. And when I called the day before to check on it, it was canceled, so I’ve still never been. Exactly what(s)he said. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/45 "2010-02-04T23:48:42Z")
I was 41 before I ever got called. I had to show up for 2 or 3 days in a row, but never got seated. I haven’t been called since. I’d really like to get seated on a trial sometime. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/46 "2010-02-05T00:11:54Z")
I was never called for jury duty before moving to Texas. Then I got called three times in a little over five years. Since moving out of state, I’ve never been called in almost nine years. I think there’s some location factor involved here. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/47 "2010-02-05T00:25:15Z")
I got a notice within a year or two of first registering. I was in college at the time, and it would’ve seriously f’d up my classes, so I just returned it with some sort of note to that effect, and that was that. My parents have been registered voters for as long as I’ve been around, and I don’t recall my mom ever getting a notice. My dad got his first notice a few years ago, and actually wound up on a jury for a while until the defendant decided to cop a plea. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/48 "2010-02-05T00:50:54Z")
My mother has been a registered voter since 1944 and has never been called for jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/49 "2010-02-05T01:17:48Z")
I’m nearly 70 and have been called once; my group of juror numbers was excused so I didn’t have to show up at the courthouse. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/50 "2010-02-05T01:22:02Z")
I have been registered to vote for almost 33 yrs. Never been called for jury duty. I have lived in my current town for almost 20 yrs, and I don’t know anyone here who has been called for jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/51 "2010-02-05T02:58:54Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I thought the accepted wisdom was that the odds of any lawyer slipping through voir dire and being seated on a jury was effectively nil. Jury selection 101, as it were. Not anymore. A lot of occupational exemptions have been dropped, in Ohio and elsewhere. I even know a judge who served on a jury. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/52 "2010-02-05T03:57:51Z")
Registered to vote since age 18, I was first called to jury duty at the age of 39. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/53 "2014-07-09T15:07:09Z")
Zombies don’t serve on juries, and four years later and I still haven’t been called. Funny thing is that my son, who is 19 was called recently. Beat his old man to the punch. Even Madonna got called recently in NYC. Going on 30 years as a registered voter. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/54 "2014-07-09T15:50:48Z")
I’ve been registered for 60 years, never called up. My wife was called a month after we moved from the state, so never served. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/55 "2014-07-09T15:54:34Z")
In California people are primarily chosen based on driver’s licenses. No point in summoning people who can’t get to the court house. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/56 "2014-07-09T16:03:50Z")
I have lived in England all my life, and always been registered to vote, but only served once, and that was in the Westminster Quarter Sessions. The courthouse in those days was right opposite the Houses of Parliament. It was an interesting experience, and the expenses were generous, so I was not out of pocket. The jury I was on tried (and convicted) two cases. As the one with the loudest mouth, I got elected as foreman both times. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/57 "2014-07-09T16:10:52Z")
36 years eligible now; still never called. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/58 "2014-07-09T16:57:35Z")
I did live for 4 years each in two places in the US and was a registered voter in both, but for most of the 56 years since I turned 21, I have lived abroad. But both parents were registered voters for their entire lives and were never called. Of my children, my daughter has been called three times, my older son once and the younger never. My daughter’s first call ended in a hung jury and, hearing that, the prosecutor has struck her off the next two times. Am I to understand from some of the comments upthread that federal grand jury servers are not allowed even to name the people they investigated? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/59 "2014-07-10T03:54:53Z")
I was a registered voter for around 30 years before I was called. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546/60 "2014-07-10T04:08:34Z")
I was last called in the 1980s. Of course, I’m registered to vote based on my family’s last residence in Texas. That is no more, and I own no property there, so I might not even know if I’m called. No warrants appear to be out for me though, or at least no one’s arrested me at any airport in the US when I arrive or leave. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-of-a-us-registered-voter-going-25-years-without-being-called-for-jury-duty/527546.md?page=4)