Jury Duty in Connecticut: Pay, Exemptions, Excuses and What to Expect (2026)

Connecticut's Jury Administration, a statewide office of the Judicial Branch, summons Superior Court jurors at random from four lists: voters, licensed drivers and state ID holders, state income tax filers, and people who received unemployment benefits. If you're 18 or older, live in Connecticut, and are a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident, you can be called. More than 90 percent of the people who serve finish in a single day.

Connecticut is one of the few states that puts the first week of jury pay on employers. A full-time employee keeps getting regular wages from the employer for the first 5 days of service. From the sixth day on, the state pays every juror $50 a day. Your employer can't fire, threaten or coerce you over jury duty, and a juror who doesn't show up faces a civil penalty.

The rules are in Chapter 884 of the Connecticut General Statutes (§§ 51-217 to 51-247c). Everything below is current as of November 2026.

Connecticut jury duty at a glance

Who can serve

Section 51-217 opens with the test:

All jurors shall be electors, individuals lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined in 8 USC 1101(a)(20), as amended from time to time, or citizens of the United States, who are residents of this state having a permanent place of abode in this state and appear on the list compiled by the Jury Administrator under subsection (b) of section 51-222a, who have reached the age of eighteen.

Two features stand out. Since 2021, green-card holders who live here can serve alongside citizens. And you must have a permanent home in Connecticut: out-of-state college students and service members stationed here who live elsewhere don't qualify, and the Judicial Branch tells them to ask for an excusal (Jury FAQ).

Who is disqualified. The same section lists people who can't serve (§ 51-217(a)):

• anyone a Superior Court judge finds has a quality that would impair their capacity to serve (being deaf or hard of hearing never counts);
• anyone convicted of a felony within the past three years, facing a pending felony case, or in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction;
• anyone who can't speak and understand English;
• the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller and Attorney General;
• Probate, Superior, Appellate, Supreme Court and federal judges, state referees and family support magistrates;
• members of the General Assembly while it is in session, and registrars of voters from 21 days before an election to 21 days after;
• anyone whose physical or mental disability makes satisfactory service impossible; and
• anyone who served as a trial juror or grand juror in the federal court for the District of Connecticut during the last three jury years.

Where names come from. Each year Jury Administration combines the lists of voters, licensed drivers and state ID holders, income tax filers and unemployment recipients, removes duplicates and the names of people who have died, and draws names at random (§ 51-222a). The Judicial Branch says more than 550,000 people are picked each year and about 88,000 serve (Jury Administration).

Exemptions and excuses

Connecticut has no list of occupations exempt from jury duty. Instead it has an age opt-out, a medical disqualification, a prior-service excuse, and the power to excuse for extreme hardship.

• Age 75 or older. The statute disqualifies anyone who "is seventy-five years of age or older and chooses not to perform juror service" (§ 51-217(a)(8)). You can claim it through the Judicial Branch's eResponse portal, which has a button for it, and you can ask Jury Administration to leave you off future summonses for good; you can undo that request in writing at any time (§ 51-217(c)). The age was 70 until 2021.
• Medical. A disability that prevents satisfactory service disqualifies you, but you must send Jury Administration a letter from a licensed health care provider. The statute gives the provider a yardstick: you are able to serve if you can do a sedentary job requiring close attention for six hours a day, with short breaks, for at least three business days in a row. If the disability is permanent, a letter from a physician, physician assistant or APRN saying so lets you ask to be left off the list for good. The Judicial Branch posts a Medical Disqualification Form on its jury page.
• Prior service. You'll be excused if you showed up for jury service in any of the three preceding jury years and weren't excused, though you can ask to be summoned anyway (§ 51-217a(a)).
• Extreme hardship. Both Jury Administration and the court can excuse you for "extreme hardship" (§§ 51-217(b), 51-217a(b)). The Judicial Branch sends jurors with a childcare hardship to this route; courthouses have no childcare, and children can't come with you.
• Students. The Judicial Branch expects students to move their date to a school break longer than a week, and to ask for an excusal only if they can't (Jury FAQ).
• Military. Active-duty service members may request an excusal. Civilian military employees must serve but may defer.
• Breastfeeding. There is no automatic excuse. A breastfeeding mother can postpone, or serve with an accommodation such as a private room to express milk; the law requires the Judicial Branch to post this information and train its staff (§ 51-217b).
• Self-employed. No one is disqualified because of employment status, but you may postpone to a better time of year and discuss hardships with the court on your day of service (Employer guide).

How to ask. Use the eResponse portal, email jury.administration@jud.ct.gov, or call 1-800-842-8175, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. You'll need to fill out the confidential juror questionnaire before submitting a request online.

Postponing jury duty

Connecticut gives you a legal right to one postponement. Section 51-232(b) says the summons must tell you so:

Such summons or notice shall also state the fact that a juror has a right to one postponement of the juror's term of juror service for not more than ten months and may contain any other information and instructions deemed appropriate by the Jury Administrator.

What that means in practice:

• Pick a date within ten months. Your first deferral can be made online through eResponse. If the date you choose doesn't work for the court, Jury Administration will assign one as close to it as possible.
• A second postponement is discretionary. Jury Administration may grant more, but not beyond one year from the original summons date. Call 1-800-842-8175 for a second deferral.
• Close to your date? Within two weeks of your summons date, or after it has passed, you must email or call Jury Administration instead of using the portal (Jury FAQ).

(§ 51-232)

Juror pay

Connecticut splits juror pay between employers and the state. Section 51-247 begins:

Each full-time employed juror shall be paid regular wages by the juror's employer for the first five days, or part thereof, of jury service.

And from the sixth day:

Each juror who serves more than five days shall be paid by the state for the sixth day and each day thereafter at a rate of fifty dollars per day of service.

How it works:

• Full-time employees, days 1 to 5. Your employer pays your regular wages. "Full-time" means a job that normally requires 30 or more hours a week and isn't temporary or casual. A temp-agency worker in a 30-hour position counts after more than 90 days in the job. If you're paid by commission, the Judicial Branch and Department of Labor say your employer pays a daily average based on the previous month (Employer guide).
• Everyone else, days 1 to 5. Part-time, unemployed and self-employed jurors, and full-time workers on a day they wouldn't have earned wages, get reimbursed by the state for necessary out-of-pocket expenses. That includes 20 cents a mile round trip, and the Judicial Branch lists childcare, parking and transportation; meals don't count. Each day's award is at least $20 and no more than $50. You'll need the reimbursement form, and receipts for expenses over $25 (Your Guide to Jury Service).
• Day 6 onward. Every juror gets $50 a day from the state, whatever their job. That's the only payment; there's no extra reimbursement.
• Unemployment benefits. You keep collecting them while you serve. From the sixth day, the Department of Labor reduces your benefit by two-thirds of the state's juror pay.
• Days you aren't told to return. If the judge lets you go until a jury is picked and you aren't directed to come back on a given day, you aren't paid for that day (§ 51-237a).

If an employer can't afford it. An employer, or a self-employed juror, can ask the court to be excused from paying for days 1 to 5 by showing extreme financial hardship. If the court agrees, the state pays the juror's regular wages instead, capped at $50 a day. The waiver application comes with the juror service certificate, and the employer has 15 days after receiving it to file (§ 51-247c).

Your job is protected

Section 51-247a(a) protects jurors at work:

An employer shall not deprive an employee of his or her employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce the employee with respect to his or her employment, because the employee receives a summons in accordance with the provisions of section 51-232, responds to the summons, or serves as a juror.

What follows from the rest of the section:

1. Eight hours is a full day. A juror who has spent eight hours on jury duty in one day has worked a legal day's work, and the employer can't make them work more that day. That matters for people on evening or night shifts.
2. Criminal penalty. An employer who violates the section is guilty of criminal contempt and may be fined up to $500, jailed up to 30 days, or both.
3. Lawsuit if you're fired. You have 90 days from the firing to sue for lost wages and reinstatement. Damages are capped at ten weeks of lost wages, and a winning employee gets a reasonable attorney's fee.
4. Lawsuit if you aren't paid. An employer that doesn't pay the first five days' wages, and hasn't been excused by a court, is liable for damages. Financial hardship is no defense, and the court may award triple damages and attorney's fees for wilful conduct.

(§ 51-247a)

The wage duty is also enforced through the state's wage payment laws (§ 51-247(a)). Your employer can ask you to go back to work if the court lets you go early; the Judicial Branch suggests asking about the policy before your date. For questions, call Jury Administration or the Department of Labor at 860-263-6790 (Employer guide).

What happens if you don't show up

Section 51-237 sets the penalty:

Each juror, duly chosen, drawn and summoned, who fails to appear shall be subject to a civil penalty, the amount of which shall be established by the Chief Court Administrator, but the court may excuse such juror from the payment thereof.

The Attorney General enforces the section, within available appropriations. We found no published amount on the Judicial Branch's site as of November 2026; its FAQ says only that skipping your date violates state law and "you may be ordered to pay a fine" (Jury FAQ). Until 2024 the judges of the Superior Court set the amount; a 2024 law gave the job to the Chief Court Administrator.

Lying on your questionnaire is a separate problem: the confirmation form and confidential questionnaire are signed under penalty of false statement (§ 51-232(c)). If you have an emergency, call 1-800-842-8175 before your date; you may be given a new one.

Your first day

The Judicial Branch's handbook, Your Guide to Jury Service, and its jury pages describe the day:

• Confirm and fill out the questionnaire. Confirm your date and complete the confidential juror questionnaire through eResponse. If you have no internet access, you can fill it out at a kiosk at court.
• Call the night before. After 5:30 p.m. the evening before your date, call the attendance status number for your courthouse. You can also sign up for text alerts, but those come only if you're cancelled, and in bad weather you should call. If you're cancelled, you've met your obligation for that court year (September 1 to August 31).
• Plan to stay until 5:00 p.m. Arrive by the time on your reminder notice. If you're let go earlier, your employer may want you back at work.
• How long. Your term is one day unless you're picked for a trial, which you then serve to the end, or the questioning of jurors isn't finished that day (§ 51-238a). More than 90 percent of jurors finish in one day.
• What to bring. Lunch if you like; courthouses have refrigerators and microwaves. Cell phones and laptops are allowed, but you may not take photos or recordings, and phones can't be used in orientation, deliberations or any courtroom. Leave weapons, pocket knives, knitting needles and tools at home. Each courthouse's amenities are listed on the What To Expect page; Hartford, for example, has no Wi-Fi in the jury rooms.
• Dress. No shorts, t-shirts, or clothing with offensive words or images.
• No children. Courthouses have no childcare.
• Proof for your employer. Jury Administration mails a juror service certificate, with a copy for your employer, soon after you serve; trial jurors get an updated one when the trial ends. If you need proof the same day, ask the jury clerk for a note.

Grand jury service

Connecticut no longer uses citizen grand juries to charge serious crimes. Since May 26, 1983, a person charged with a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment gets a probable cause hearing before a judge instead (§ 54-46a). The law still allows the Superior Court to summon an 18-member grand jury when necessary (§ 54-45), but Connecticut's "investigatory grand jury" for corruption and other serious crimes is a judge, a state referee or a panel of three judges, not a group of citizens (§ 54-47b). Prior federal grand jury service in Connecticut within three jury years does disqualify you from state service.

Jury duty scams

Scammers call, text or email claiming you missed jury duty and demand payment to avoid a fine or arrest, often posing as police or court officers. The Judicial Branch says the first contact from Jury Administration is always a summons in the mail, and its office doesn't call or email you unless you contacted it first. Its scam poster puts it plainly:

Law enforcement or court officials will never ask for payment, a credit card, or social security number for missing jury service.

If you get a suspicious call, hang up and call Jury Administration at 1-800-842-8175 and your local police. You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission (Jury scam poster; Jury FAQ; see also the federal courts' juror scam warning).

Recent and pending changes

The last big overhaul came in 2021, when P.A. 21-170 let lawful permanent residents serve, cut the felony bar from seven years to three, and raised the opt-out age from 70 to 75 (§ 51-217 history). The $50 state rate dates to 1988, and the employer's share grew from three days to five in 1991 (§ 51-247 history). We found no jury law passed in the 2026 session; the Office of Legislative Research's summary of the session's major acts lists none. The 2027 session opens in January.

Frequently asked questions

How much does jury duty pay in Connecticut?

If you work full time, your employer pays your regular wages for the first 5 days. From the sixth day, the state pays every juror $50 a day. Part-time, unemployed and self-employed jurors can be reimbursed for expenses such as mileage and childcare for the first five days, at least $20 and up to $50 a day.

Can my employer fire me for jury duty in Connecticut?

No. Your employer can't fire, threaten or coerce you because you were summoned or served. An employer who does can be fined up to $500 and jailed up to 30 days, and you can sue within 90 days for up to ten weeks of lost wages and your job back. Eight hours of jury duty also counts as a full day's work.

How do I get out of jury duty in Connecticut?

Anyone 75 or older can opt out, and you'll be excused if you served in the past three court years. A disability that prevents you from serving disqualifies you if a health care provider says so in a letter. For anything else, such as childcare or a financial crisis, ask for an excusal for extreme hardship through eResponse or by calling 1-800-842-8175. If you simply need a different date, you have a right to postpone once, up to ten months.

What happens if I miss jury duty in Connecticut?

A summoned juror who fails to appear is subject to a civil penalty, set by the Chief Court Administrator and enforced by the Attorney General, though the court may excuse it. If you missed your date by mistake, call Jury Administration right away to reschedule.

How often can you be called for jury service in Connecticut?

You can be picked every court year, which runs from September 1 to August 31. But if you showed up for jury service in any of the three preceding court years, the law excuses you, and you can ask Jury Administration to release you on that ground. If your service was cancelled the night before, you've still met your obligation for that court year.

Is there an age limit for jury duty in Connecticut?

You must be at least 18. There's no upper limit, but anyone 75 or older may choose not to serve and can ask to be left off future lists permanently. The age was 70 until 2021.

Where these rules live

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-217 — Qualifications, disqualifications and the age-75 opt-out
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-217a — Prior-service and hardship excuses
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-232 — Summons and the right to postpone
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-237 — Failure to appear
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-238a — Length of service
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-247 — Juror pay and employer wages
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-247a — Employer protection
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-247c — Employer hardship waiver
• Connecticut Judicial Branch, Jury Administration
• A Guide to Juror Service for Employees, Employers, and the Unemployed
• Connecticut's civil rules on this site
• Law schools in Connecticut