How to Get Out of Jury Duty: Postponements, Excuses and Exemptions in Every State (2026)

There is no trick to getting out of jury duty, but there are rules, and they are friendlier than most people expect. Nearly every jurisdiction gives you some way to move your date, and nearly every one lets a judge or jury office excuse people for whom serving would be a real hardship. Most also let older people opt out once they reach a set age.

What no jurisdiction offers is a way out by silence. A summons is a court order, and ignoring it is the one approach that can cost you money. Most people who answer a summons never sit on a jury at all.

This page compares the rules in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the federal courts. Each state's own page has the details, the statute citations and links to the official text. Everything here is current as of November 2026.

Start with a postponement

If the problem is timing, such as a trip, a busy season at work, exams or a medical procedure, ask to postpone. It is the easiest request to get, and in many places it is yours by right:

• Texas gives you one postponement on request, to a date within six months.
• Massachusetts gives one postponement as of right, to a date you choose up to one year away.
• New York gives one postponement as of right, to a date you pick within six months.
• Connecticut gives a right to one postponement of up to ten months.
• The District of Columbia allows one deferral of up to 90 days for any reason, online through eJuror.
• Arizona allows two postponements on request, and more only for an unforeseeable emergency.
• Federal courts may defer you for undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, and most districts take deferral requests through eJuror.

Courts often prefer a postponement to an excuse. Kentucky law tells judges to prefer a postponement or shorter service over a full excuse whenever possible, and California courts prefer deferring service to excusing it for temporary or minor hardships. If a later date would solve your problem, ask for that first.

Asking to be excused for hardship

An excuse releases you from service, either for this summons or for longer. The standard almost everywhere is hardship, and courts read that word narrowly.

Missing work, alone, is usually not enough. Several states define hardship in nearly the same terms: you would have to leave someone in your care with no substitute caregiver, the cost would seriously harm your ability to pay basic living expenses, or serving would make you physically ill. Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee all say that being away from your job does not, by itself, count. Tennessee adds one more ground: going without pay because you work for an out-of-state employer, or a small employer not required to pay jurors, that won't pay you.

Some states set the bar higher still. Massachusetts lets a judge excuse a trial juror outright only for extreme hardship and tells courts to use that power strictly. In Texas, a judge can't excuse you for an economic reason unless every party in the case is present and agrees, so money problems usually come up in the courtroom rather than on the summons.

Bring proof, and ask early. Courts that grant hardship excuses usually want papers: tax returns, pay records, a doctor's statement or proof that you care for someone. In Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma you must get a ruling by your reporting date.

Medical conditions

A health problem that keeps you from serving is the most common excuse, and it nearly always needs a note from a health care provider. Several states let you leave the jury list for good when the condition is permanent. California removes people from the juror rolls permanently on a signed note from a treating provider, and doesn't make jurors 70 or older prove a disability with medical verification. Kentucky lets the chief circuit judge grant a permanent exemption for a permanent medical condition. Connecticut asks for a letter from a licensed provider and lets you stay off the list for good if the disability is permanent.

Caregivers and parents

Many states excuse a parent or caregiver who has no one else to step in:

• Texas exempts a person with legal custody of a child younger than 12 who would otherwise be left without adequate supervision, and the primary caretaker of someone who can't care for themselves.
• Illinois must excuse the primary caregiver of a child under 12, or of a person with a disability, when no reasonable alternative care is feasible.
• Virginia excuses on request a person with legal custody of a child 16 or younger who needs continuous care during court hours.
• Georgia excuses a primary caregiver of a child six or younger who signs the court's affidavit.
• South Carolina excuses a person caring for a child under 7, or for someone 65 or older, who files an affidavit.
• The District of Columbia excuses a person caring for a child under two and a half, with a copy of the birth certificate.

Other places take a different approach. Washington asks parents and other caregivers to reschedule to a date when they can arrange care. Minnesota has no excuse just for caregiving, but lets jurors be reimbursed for added day care costs.

Breastfeeding

A growing number of states excuse or postpone nursing mothers on request. Hawaii lets a woman who is breastfeeding or expressing milk claim an exemption for two years from the child's birth. Kentucky requires the judge to excuse a breastfeeding mother until the child is weaned. Illinois and Oregon excuse a nursing mother who asks. California lets a breastfeeding juror defer for up to a year and renew the request.

Several of these rules are new. New Jersey added nursing mothers of a child one or younger on April 22, 2025, and Indiana added an exemption on July 1, 2026 for a woman who gave birth in the preceding 365 days and is breastfeeding. Washington adds a breastfeeding excuse on January 1, 2027. Other states, including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, have no breastfeeding excuse in their statutes, though some courthouses offer a private room.

Students

Being a student rarely gets you excused, but it often gets you a better date. Texas exempts high school students and people enrolled in and attending college. Florida excuses full-time students aged 18 to 21 for that summons, and Georgia excuses full-time postsecondary students who ask while enrolled. North Carolina excuses full-time students at out-of-state schools for a session that falls during classes or exams. Michigan and South Carolina give students a right to postpone past the school term, and Missouri lets full-time students move their date up to twelve months.

Elsewhere, school alone doesn't count. California expects students to reschedule to a break, and Utah says college enrollment, full or part time, isn't enough by itself.

Recent jury service

Many states spare people who served recently, though the window varies. California must excuse you on request if you served or appeared in any state or federal court in the past 12 months. New Mexico exempts you on request for 36 months after service in any state or federal court. Oklahoma won't compel anyone who served during the last five calendar years. In New Jersey, the window is three years, but only service in the same county counts.

Excuses at a glance

The table below sums up each jurisdiction's rules for caregivers, breastfeeding mothers, students and general hardship, as described on its own page. A cell that says the subject isn't addressed means that jurisdiction's page names no specific rule; you can still ask under the general hardship standard.

Exemptions by job are mostly gone

Not long ago, many states excused whole professions: lawyers, doctors, teachers, police officers. Most have dropped those lists. California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Utah and West Virginia are among the many with no exemption for any occupation. The District of Columbia is especially strict: apart from its own qualification and deferral rules, no person or class of people is exempt.

A few lists survive:

• Federal courts bar members of the armed forces on active service, members of police and fire departments, and certain public officers. That exemption isn't optional; full-time members of those groups can't serve even if they want to (federal).
• Rhode Island exempts practicing lawyers, paid police and fire department members, correctional officers, judges and legislators, among others, unless they waive it.
• Virginia exempts licensed practicing attorneys, judges, sheriffs and police, and certain officials outright.
• Hawaii lets actively practicing physicians and dentists, active police and fire department members and judges claim an exemption.
• Wyoming exempts salaried firefighters, police, elected officials and certain military members, but only if they claim it under oath.
• Puerto Rico exempts lawyers and their law clerks, secretaries and stenographers.

The age opt-out

Most jurisdictions let older people decline to serve once they reach a set age. Of the 53 jurisdictions on this site, 41 name an age at which you can claim an exemption or excuse; the other 12 have none. Seventy is by far the most common threshold, used by 19 of them. The youngest is 65, in Mississippi (over 65) and South Carolina. The oldest is 80, in Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maine, South Dakota and Washington.

A few things to know:

• It's a choice, not a cutoff. The age rules on these pages let you say no; they don't stop you from serving if you'd like to.
• You usually have to ask. Check the box on your questionnaire or follow your summons. Texas, Florida and Mississippi let you ask to be excused permanently, and Georgia counties treat the age-70 request as permanent.
• Some come with conditions. In North Carolina, a person 72 or older may ask, but the judge or clerk may grant only a temporary exemption or turn the request down. In Washington, a person 80 or older must attest that health reasons keep them from serving. Tennessee is listed below as having no age opt-out because its age-75 excuse also requires a mental or physical condition that keeps you from serving.
• The ages keep changing. Alabama had no age exemption at all until October 1, 2026. Texas raised its age from 70 to 75 in 2023, Connecticut from 70 to 75 in 2021, and Virginia from 70 to 73 in 2024.
• No age rule doesn't mean no help. Where state law has no opt-out, some courts add one locally: Cook County in Illinois runs an opt-out program for people 70 or older. Anywhere, an older juror with a health problem can ask to be excused on that ground.

How to ask

The process is much the same everywhere:

1. Read your summons. It tells you how and when to respond, and most courts now take requests through an online portal.
2. Ask in writing, with proof. Attach a doctor's note, a class schedule, a birth certificate or whatever fits your reason. Many courts deny requests that arrive without documents.
3. Ask before your date. Several courts set deadlines of a week or more ahead. Requests made on the morning you report are the hardest to win.
4. Keep your date until you hear back. Asking is not the same as being excused. New Mexico says you must still appear until the court tells you that you're excused, and Oregon tells jurors to wait for the court's answer.
5. If the answer is no, you can usually ask again in person. Many states let you raise a hardship with the judge on the day you report.

Tell the truth. Lying to get out of jury duty is its own offense. In Iowa, a false statement to escape service is contempt. In West Virginia, willfully misrepresenting a material fact on the qualification form is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both. If your real concern is that you couldn't be fair in a particular case, say so honestly during jury selection; that is what the process is for.

Ignoring the summons is not an option

Throwing the summons away doesn't make it disappear. Courts follow up with a second notice, then an order to appear and explain, and then fines or contempt. In Texas, ignoring a summons can bring a contempt fine of $100 to $1,000, and paying a fine doesn't get you out of serving; the service is still rescheduled. Our page on missing jury duty walks through what happens and how to fix it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to get out of jury duty?

Ask to postpone. Many states let you move your date at least once, often online, and several grant the first request as of right. If a later date doesn't solve the problem, ask to be excused for hardship and send proof. Ignoring the summons is the one route that can lead to a fine.

Can I get out of jury duty if I can't afford to miss work?

Sometimes, but losing a day's pay usually isn't enough. Many states limit financial hardship to costs that would seriously threaten your ability to pay basic living expenses. Whether your employer pays can matter: Franklin County in Ohio lists working for an employer that doesn't pay for jury duty among the hardships it accepts, while New Jersey and New Mexico say going unpaid isn't a reason on its own. Some states require employers to pay; see Can my employer fire me?.

At what age can you stop doing jury duty?

It depends on where you live. Of the 53 jurisdictions on this site, 41 let older people opt out at a set age, from 65 in Mississippi and South Carolina to 80 in six states. Seventy is the most common age. Twelve have no age rule, including California, New York and Illinois.

Can my employer get me out of jury duty?

Usually not. An employer's letter can support a hardship request, but the court decides. Maine's courts say plainly that your employer can't provide an excuse, and Kentucky's courts ask that only you, or a physician, make the request.

Can I be excused for being a student?

In some states. Texas exempts high school and college students, Florida excuses full-time students aged 18 to 21, and Georgia excuses full-time college students. Many other states expect students to move their date to a school break instead, and some, like California and Utah, don't treat school as a reason at all.

Do I have to go if I asked to be excused and haven't heard back?

Yes, in most places. A request isn't granted until the court says so. Follow the reporting instructions on your summons unless you have written word that you're excused or postponed, and call the jury office if the date is close.

Related pages

• Jury duty in every state
• Can my employer fire me for jury duty?
• What happens if you miss jury duty
• Jury duty scams
• Juror pay by state
• Federal jury duty