Jury Duty...Are they kidding?

[disneylovinmom]

I just got a summons to jury duty for December 18:mad: but the kicker is that we are leaving for Disney World on the 15th and won't be back until the 22nd. Surely they will give me a derferral since there is no way I can reschedule or get any refunds on my airfare or hotel reservations. I certainly would not mind to go if it was ANY other time. I realize it is a responsibility that we have as citizens of theis great nation. Has anyone else ever had this happen? I live in Indiana if that info is relevant.

[EPCOT84]

I hope Indiana allows postponements. Check the summons for any instructions, phone number or alternate way to contact the courts.

In Los Angeles county, they allow one postponement for up to 90 days. Here we have an automated phone-in system so it is easy to postpone. They send an updated summons with the new appearance date.

Good luck

[MsMin]

Sending :pixie: for your postponement. If I were a judge I'd let you go;)
I was called many years ago on my due date for my last child. When I called they said that I had to wait and see if I had the baby on that date:confused: --like the next day I would feel any better??? My doctor ended up writing a note saying I couldn't go for medical reasons. It's not like you don't want to go but geez it can be so inconvenient at times.
Let us know what happens....

[kakn7294]

Again, not sure how they do it in Indiana, but DH got a summons for jury duty for a week before our August trip. I panicked then called and asked and they said all he had to do was show up on his scheduled day and if he were chosen to be interviewed for a jury, he just had to tell them he had vacation plans and he would be excused. If he was not interviewed on his scheduled day, then he was done with his obligation. The period for which you get scheduled here cannot run longer than a week so we were fine. Good luck to you! I think most places probably have a provision for things like vacations.

[IloveDisney71]

Surely they will excuse you for this. I've gotten 2 jury summons and have been excuse both times. Once when my DH was on a transplant waiting list (& we had to be ready to head to the hospital at the drop of a hat) and the second time was the last week of my school year (teaching kindergarten) a really bad time not to be with my students. All I had to do was call a number that was on the card - this is Alabama so I'm sure it may be a little different. I would actually enjoy serving on a jury ( I think it would be interesting) but the two times I've been summoned were not good times. I even told them I could serve the next week but I wasn't called back. Oh well.
I'm crossing my fingers that you can get excused!

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I have plants in two cities that do not allow excuses - except true medical.
2) In my other plants, I REFUSE to give a work excuse.
3) They consider an excuse as contempt-of-court.
4) The laws are written this way to force participation.
5) If people bail out, then you get a certain group of people to sit on juries.
6) Participants in a trial want a jury-of-peers, not also-ran's due to others bailing.
7) I think the resort and airlines might have a plan to work around jury duty.

NOTE: My personal view is that jury duty is a function of being a citizen. It is the price we all pay for our liberty and our rights and our society. Freedom has a price. Our fathers paid dearly, and this is our form of payment. Period.

[JWDisneyFan]

The same thing happened to me last year and I was going to be at Disney during my jury duty week. I called the number on my summons and not only was I able to change the date, I actually got to pick out of several weeks, which one I wanted! I ended up picking July 4th week and never being assigned to a trial, so it all worked out. The person at the court that I talked to said this happens all the time, so I am sure he will be able to reschedule.

[ElenitaB]

The very notice you received notifying you of your date to appear for selection, will also have information about requesting a deferral. A quick search on the net found this information, which the OP may find helpful:

Indiana Jury Rule 7 permits the judge or judge's designee to authorize deferral of jury service upon a showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience, or necessity. Generally, courts do not require you to appear in court to request a deferral. There are a variety of ways in which to contact the court to request a deferral including by telephone, by electronic mail (where available), in writing, or in person. [Note: emphasis added] For more information or questions, please contact the court that sent you the notice and/or summons for jury service.

Here in NYC, you can call a special number (again, it was right on the summons) to request a deferral for up to 6 months from the original date.

Serving on a jury is one of the ways we keep this nation great!

[SBETigg]

My husband was able to get a deferral in MA because he was scheduled to be out of town on business trips. They rescheduled his jury duty for four months later. He wasn't dodging it. He fully intended to serve, and serve he did, just later than first planned. He ended up on a very heavy case that had him in court every day for three weeks.

But deferrals are common. Not sure how it works in your state, but I think you will some luck putting it off. Things happen. The courts understand. Obviously, your goal isn't to get out of it entirely so it shouldn't be a problem, I hope. Best wishes.

[Jasper]

Was the summons for a Federal, State, or County court? Also was it a notice that you have been drawn for jury duty and could be called anytime during the time period in question or was it a notice to actually appear?

I am also from Indiana and have had this same thing happen to a couple of different friends. If it is for a federal court then it will likely be more difficult to get a deferment. If it is a State or County Court they are usually fairly lenient when you have a preplanned trip.

If it was just a notice that you have been drawn then there is nothing you actually have to do until you receive notice to appear. Be sure to read the document carefully especially if this is the first letter you have received about jury duty.

As a general rule though it is not normally a real problem to get a deferment for something like this. As others have already said though, be sure to contact the court right away and let them know and then they will tell you what you need to do.

[disneylovinmom]

To answer your question it is for the Madison County Courts. I got a questionnaire a YEAR AGO asking me if I was available for the next 3 months and I sent it back saying I was. I then got a letter to appear on 7/3/07 (which was well past the three months they had asked me about) with a number to call the night before tho see if it was still on. They cancelled it. Now a year after they sent me the questionnaire asking if I was available thru March they are sending me another summons. I am MORE THAN WILLING to serve, but we have invested thousands of dollars and have had this planned since January. I am calling them Monday to get a deferral. It says on the paper that if you have a hardship like non refundable tickets that they can give you one. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. Otherwise, they will have to arrest me when I get back. This trip is all of our Christmas gifts for this year.

[disneylovinmom]

Oh yeah, it is not even for the actual trial, it is only for jury selection. So there will be plenty of people there to pick from If they even have it that day. That close to the holidays they will probably cancel it anyhow. So even if I do skip my vacation they could not even have court that day. Then I would have wasted my vacation and thousands of dollars for nothing.

[Dznygrl79]

We had this happen in my family! And what it comes down to is each state is different, but usually they give you a contact person on your summons ( if not call the court who is issueing the summons) we had to produce receipts for our vacation (hotel and airfare). Then DH was let off the hook until he came home. Hope this all works out for you!

[Here we go again...]

My DH was chosen for jury duty for a federal case. Of course it was right in the middle of one of our Disney trips.
We have a friend that is a lawyer and he wrote a quick note asking for a deferral and said that my DH would serve on any upcoming jury.
We had no problem at all, he was released and we still have never received a nother jury duty notice.

[disneydrmr]

I had this happen to me back in Sept. 01. I was set to go with my best friend to Naples, Florida. Since the trip was paid for, tickets paid for, etc... we would lose money if had to cancel. So I wrote a letter on the questionaire about it.. then followed up a few days later with a phone call and had no trouble getting excused. I'm sure the courts are used to this. It's not like you KNOW when you will be called to jury duty, so it's not like people can plan their vacations around it. Good luck!

[Tink#64]

I am in Jefferson County, KY & I was able to defer my jury duty by a couple of months due to my job & not having anyone else to pick up the kids from school at that time. I served about 2 months later & I was very appreciative of the fact that the people handling these affairs do understand that we al have lives & aren't necessarily available at the drop of a hat.

I read that you were planning to call today to see what you could do. In my county, it had to be a written request, this was indicated on the form letter that I had received. I hope that this all works out for you. What a nightmare after all your planning!

Pixie dust to you & good luck on getting this postponed until after your trip! :pixie:

[mrsgaribaldi]

I was called many years ago on my due date for my last child. When I called they said that I had to wait and see if I had the baby on that date:confused: --like the next day I would feel any better??? My doctor ended up writing a note saying I couldn't go for medical reasons.


Come on now, you could have gone:mickey:
Couldn't you have had the baby on the lunch break? ;)I think you were trying to dodge your duty.
That is unbelievable but the sad part is I know it's true.:shake:

Good luck disneylovinmom :pixie::pixie::pixie:
I hope you have no trouble going on your trip.

[bleukarma]

Awww...I wish I could serve for you. I actually think jury duty would be fun, but I've never been called. Everyone around me has been called a few times but for some reason I never get that letter. Good luck with getting a later date, I'm crossing my fingers for you!!! :mickey:

[disneylovinmom]

Well, it looks like I'm going to get my deferral.:thumbsup: I called the court and told them what was going on and the lady said, "Oh, ok I'll send you a deferral form and you just need to fill it out and send me your airline itinerary." She was supposed to fax it to me, but I haven't got it yet. She said she had to send out alot of them. I guess they don't expect you to really lose that kind of money. Thank Goodness. I will be happy to serve on a jury in the future if need be, just not when I have a Disney vacation planned.:mickey: We have been planning this for a whole year! 11 days to go!!!