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

Kentucky draws jurors from a statewide master list that the Administrative Office of the Courts builds each year from driver's license and state ID records, state income tax returns and voter rolls. If you're an adult U.S. citizen living in the county, the circuit clerk's office may mail you a summons and a juror qualification form at least 30 days before you're due.

The headline numbers are small. Jurors get $12.50 a day: $5 in pay plus $7.50 for expenses, a rate unchanged since

1. Your employer doesn't have to pay you, but it can't fire you, threaten you or pressure you over jury service; an

employer who does commits a Class B misdemeanor and can be sued for lost wages. If you ignore a summons, the court orders you to explain why, and without good cause you can be held in contempt and fined, jailed, or both.

The rules are in Chapter 29A of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS 29A.010 to 29A.990) and in Part II of the Supreme Court's Administrative Procedures of the Court of Justice (AP Part II), which tracks the statute and fills in the details. Everything below is current as of November 2026.

Kentucky jury duty at a glance

Who can serve

Kentucky's statute is written as a list of disqualifications. Under KRS 29A.080(2), you can't serve if you:

• are under 18;
• aren't a U.S. citizen;
• don't live in the county;
• have "insufficient knowledge of the English language";
• have a felony conviction and haven't been pardoned or had your civil rights restored by the Governor or other authorized official where you were convicted;
• are under indictment right now;
• have served on a jury within the 24-month window in KRS 29A.130; or
• are 70 or older and asked, on the qualification form, to be excused for the period you were summoned.

(KRS 29A.080)

Felony convictions in more detail. The Supreme Court's jury rules spell out three ways back onto the rolls: a full pardon or full restoration of civil rights; a partial pardon or restoration that expressly restores the right to serve on a jury; or having the conviction vacated, dismissed and expunged under KRS 431.073 (AP Part II § 8(2)(e)).

Disability is no bar. These disqualifications can't be waived, but a person with a disability can't be disqualified solely because of it (KRS 29A.080(4)).

Where names come from. The master list for each county includes everyone over 18 with a Kentucky driver's license or state ID card issued there, everyone who files a Kentucky resident income tax return showing an address there, and every registered voter. The Administrative Office of the Courts refreshes the lists at least once a year and purges people who have died or moved (KRS 29A.040).

The qualification form. It comes with your summons. Fill it out and return it within five days. It asks you to sign a declaration that your answers are true, and a willful misstatement can be punished by a fine or jail (KRS 29A.070). If you don't return it, the court may order you to come in and fill it out, and failing to come is contempt.

Exemptions and excuses

Kentucky starts from a firm rule. KRS 29A.090 says, in full: "There shall be no automatic exemptions from jury service." No job, office or profession gets you out. But the law does offer a few routes.

Age 70: an opt-out each time. Since June 29, 2023, anyone 70 or older can be excused by asking in the space on the qualification form (KRS 29A.080(2)(h)). The opt-out covers only "the period summoned," so you'll need to claim it again if you're summoned later. A 2024 bill to make the age exemption permanent didn't pass (see the changes section).

Breastfeeding mothers. The statute makes this one mandatory: the judge "shall excuse a mother who is breastfeeding a child or expressing breastmilk" until the child is weaned (KRS 29A.100(4)).

Permanent medical condition. The chief circuit judge may grant a permanent exemption if you ask and the judge finds a permanent medical condition makes you unable to serve. Your name is then taken off the master list (KRS 29A.080(3)). The state's juror guide says you'll need enough proof for the judge to make that finding.

Hardship, inconvenience or public necessity. Everything else falls under KRS 29A.100(1):

Upon the request of a prospective juror prior to assignment to a trial court, the Chief Circuit Judge, or after the juror's assignment to a trial court, the trial judge may excuse such juror upon a showing of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity.

On the day you report, anyone not already excused who wants to be will be heard, and AP Part II lets you make that request privately at a bench conference (AP Part II § 9(1)). The judge may excuse you entirely, cut the number of days you serve, or postpone you, but the law tells judges to prefer a postponement or shorter service over a full excuse whenever possible (KRS 29A.100(3)).

How to ask. The Kentucky Court of Justice is blunt: "With the exception of an emergency, individuals called to serve on a jury should not ask to be excused." If you have a medical problem, bring a doctor's note or a personal letter to the judge. Don't send a lawyer, your employer or anyone else, other than a physician, to ask for you (You the Jury).

Postponing jury duty

Kentucky's statute allows postponement at two levels:

• Court staff. The chief circuit judge may authorize other judges, the clerk or deputy clerks, or the court administrator to excuse a juror for up to 10 days or postpone service for up to 12 months. The reason goes on your qualification form (KRS 29A.100(2)).
• The judge. A judge may postpone service for up to 24 months (KRS 29A.100(3)).

(KRS 29A.100)

Once your postponement ends, your name goes onto the next available panel, which may not be the one you were first summoned for (AP Part II § 9(5)). To ask, contact the office listed on your summons. In Louisville, the clerk's jury page lists the Court Administrator's Office at 502-595-4588 (Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk).

Juror pay

KRS 29A.170 sets the rate:

All jurors in Circuit and District Court shall be paid five dollars ($5) per day for jury service. In addition thereto, they shall be paid seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) per day as reimbursement of expenses incurred, which sum is hereby determined to be the equivalent of the minimum daily expenses reasonably to be incurred by such juror.

(KRS 29A.170(1))

What that means:

• $12.50 a day, statewide. The state's juror guide puts it plainly: jurors are paid $12.50 per day by the state. The $7.50 expense allowance is repeated in KRS 32.070 for grand jurors, petit jurors and people summoned to circuit court (KRS 32.070).
• Paid even if you're not picked. If you report and aren't released, you get the full amount for each day you're required to be there, whether or not you're sworn onto a jury (KRS 29A.170(2)).
• No mileage. The expense allowance is a flat amount; there's no separate mileage payment.
• Days off don't count. If the court adjourns the jury to a later day, jurors aren't paid for the days in between (AP Part II § 17).
• Sequestered juries. The state pays for meals and lodging when a jury is kept overnight (You the Jury).
• No long-trial rate. The statute has no higher rate for long trials, and the rate itself dates to 1978. Bills to raise it keep stalling (see below).

Your job is protected

KRS 29A.160 protects you from the moment the summons arrives:

An employer shall not deprive an employee of his employment, or threaten or otherwise coerce him with respect thereto, because the employee receives a summons, responds thereto, serves as a juror, or attends court for prospective jury service.

What follows:

1. No firing, no threats, no pressure. The protection covers receiving the summons, answering it, sitting on a jury, and waiting in the jury pool.
2. A lawsuit for lost wages. If you're fired in violation of the law, you may sue within 90 days for the wages you lost and an order reinstating you with full seniority and benefits. Damages are limited to lost wages, and if you win, the court awards a reasonable attorney's fee (KRS 29A.160(2)).
3. A crime for the employer. An employer who violates the statute "is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor" (KRS 29A.990(1)), which carries up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $250 (KRS 532.090; KRS 534.040).
4. No pay required. The Court of Justice's guide says employers must release you from your work schedule but don't have to pay you for the time away. Ask about your company's policy.

(KRS 29A.160)

What happens if you don't show up

KRS 29A.150 sets the process:

A person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed shall be ordered by the court to appear forthwith and show cause for his failure to comply with the summons. If he fails to show good cause for noncompliance with the summons, he may be punished for contempt.

The same section reaches jurors who stop paying attention in court, leave the courthouse while court is in session, or otherwise fail to finish their service without the court's permission (KRS 29A.150).

The Supreme Court's rules lay out the steps. Within 14 days of a missed date, the court mails a failure-to-appear postcard giving you five days to call. If 30 days pass with no response, a second notice follows. After another 30 days, the court issues an order to show cause by first-class mail. If you then skip the hearing or can't show good cause, you "may be held in contempt of court and fined, sent to jail, or both" (AP Part II § 15). Neither the statute nor the rule sets a dollar amount; the judge decides.

If you contact the court at any point, you'll be asked to complete the qualification form and then be disqualified, excused or postponed as the rules allow. A phone call is almost always the better path.

Your first day

Details vary by county, so follow your summons. Here's what to expect:

• Thirty court days. By law you must be available for 30 judicial days after your reporting date unless the court tells you otherwise (KRS 29A.060(3)). Jefferson County's clerk notes that some urban courts need you for as few as 14 days, while some rural courts may ask for as many as 150, and the judge sets the exact length (Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk). If you're seated on a trial, you stay until it ends.
• Follow your summons for check-in. It tells you where and when to report. In Louisville, jurors report to the Judge Benjamin F. Shobe Jury Pool Assembly Hall, Room 244, and can sign up for text notifications.
• Numbers, not names. Jurors are called each day by the identifying number assigned on the randomized list, and courts try to schedule trials on the days jurors are summoned (AP Part II § 9(6)-(7)).
• Be on time. The trial can't go on without you, and the state's guide asks jurors to be prompt.
• Dress. Wear comfortable clothes suited to the seriousness and dignity of a courtroom.
• Expect waits. Long recesses are common while the lawyers negotiate pleas or settlements. Bring something to read.
• No research. Don't read or watch news about your case, look things up, or visit places involved in it. Report anyone who tries to discuss the case with you to the judge.

(You the Jury)

Grand jury service

A Kentucky grand jury has 12 members, and nine must agree to return an indictment (KRS 29A.200). A regular grand jury convenes at least once every four months and sits no more than 20 days of actual court attendance, except to finish a case already under way (KRS 29A.210). A special grand jury for a long investigation may sit up to 90 days, extendable in 90-day steps by the chief circuit judge (KRS 29A.220). In any 24 months, no one has to serve on more than one grand jury, or on both a grand jury and a trial jury (KRS 29A.130). Grand jurors get the same $7.50 expense allowance as trial jurors (KRS 32.070). Since July 15, 2026, anyone present at a grand jury proceeding who records testimony commits a Class A misdemeanor, and one who discloses it commits a Class D felony (KRS 29A.215; KRS 29A.990(3)).

Jury duty scams

Scammers call, text or email pretending to be deputies or court staff, claim you missed jury duty, and demand a fine to avoid arrest. That isn't how Kentucky courts work. A missed date brings a postcard and a mailed notice, then a court order to appear at a hearing, and only a judge at that hearing can impose a penalty (AP Part II § 15). If someone asks you for money, gift cards or bank details over a missed jury date, hang up and call your circuit court clerk at the number on the clerk's official website (see also the federal courts' juror scam warning).

Recent and pending changes

A 2023 bill to raise pay to $50 a day (SB 264) also stalled in committee. As of November 2026, juror pay remains $12.50 a day. The bill records are on the legislature's site (HB 338; SB 153; SB 22; HB 305; HB 440).

Frequently asked questions

How much does jury duty pay in Kentucky?

Kentucky pays jurors $12.50 a day: $5 for service plus $7.50 for expenses. You're paid for every day you're required to attend, even if you're never picked for a trial. There's no mileage, and your employer doesn't have to pay your wages.

Can my employer fire me for jury duty in Kentucky?

No. Your employer can't fire you, threaten you or pressure you because you were summoned, reported or served. If you're fired, you can sue within 90 days for lost wages and reinstatement, plus attorney's fees if you win. The employer also commits a Class B misdemeanor.

How do I get out of jury duty in Kentucky?

Kentucky has no automatic exemptions. If you're 70 or older, you can opt out by asking on the qualification form. Breastfeeding mothers must be excused, and a permanent medical condition can earn a permanent exemption. Anyone else must show undue hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity, and judges often postpone rather than excuse.

What happens if I miss jury duty in Kentucky?

The court mails you notices and then an order to appear and explain. If you don't show good cause, the judge can hold you in contempt of court, which can mean a fine, jail, or both. Answering the court's postcard usually lets you reschedule instead.

How often can you be called for jury duty in Kentucky?

No one has to serve or wait in the pool for more than 30 court days as a trial juror in any 24-month period, except to finish a trial. Service in federal court and other states' courts counts toward that limit. Having served on a jury in the past 24 months also disqualifies you.

Is there an age limit for jury duty in Kentucky?

You must be at least 18. There's no upper limit, but if you're 70 or older you can ask on the qualification form to be excused for that summons. You'll have to ask again each time you're summoned.

Where these rules live

• KRS 29A.040 — Master list of prospective jurors
• KRS 29A.080 — Disqualifications and the age-70 opt-out
• KRS 29A.100 — Excuses, postponements, breastfeeding mothers
• KRS 29A.130 — Limit of 30 days in 24 months
• KRS 29A.150 — Failure to appear and contempt
• KRS 29A.160 — Employer's duties
• KRS 29A.170 — Juror pay
• KRS 29A.990 — Penalties
• AP Part II, Jury Selection and Management (Supreme Court Order 2020-73)
• You the Jury (Kentucky Court of Justice juror guide)
• Kentucky's jury rules on this site (CR 47 and following)
• Law schools in Kentucky