KNOW YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS  / If my child is ill, do I still have to report for jury duty?

By Barry Kirshner

Jury service is a necessary civic duty and is required by law. The goal of the Florida law is that a jury selected for a trial be composed of a fair cross section of the community, working individuals, retirees, members of different sexes, as well as social backgrounds. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) records of people having a driver’s license or identification card residing in the county are selected at random for jury service. Thus, to be a juror a person must be at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of the State of Florida and must be a resident of Monroe County, and hold a Florida driver license or identification card issued by DHSMV.

The law also disqualifies from jury service persons who are under prosecution for any crime or who have been convicted in Florida or any other state, or in any federal court of bribery, forgery, perjury, larceny, or any other offense that is a felony in the State of Florida (unless their civil rights have been restored). Most importantly, any person with an interest in the issues to be litigated cannot sit as juror in that case where the issue will be tried.

With regard to those matters that will permit a person to be excused from jury service the law includes:

Full-time federal, state or local law enforcement or investigative personnel.

An expectant mother or a parent who is not employed full time and who has custody of a child under six years of age.

A person 70 years of age or older shall be excused from jury service upon request. Further, a person 70 years of age or older may be permanently excused from jury service upon his/her written request.

Any person who is responsible for the care of a person who, because of mental illness, intellectual disability, senility, or other physical or mental incapacity, is incapable of caring for himself or herself shall be excused from jury service upon request.

Other persons who can demonstrate hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity may also request to be excused by the court.

Thus, the answer to the opening question is, “Yes.” You can contact the Clerk of Court (contact information should be listed on your jury summons), and request to be excused from the current jury summons and pass your service to another time. It should be kept in mind that a person who is summoned and has reported as a prospective juror is exempt from jury service for one year.

Lastly, and most importantly, don’t even think about being a “no show” for jury service. The Chief Judge can hold you in Contempt of Court, which can result in a fine of several hundred dollars. And, while highly unlikely, the judge could issue a “bench warrant” or a pickup-order, which would then authorize an officer to arrest you if you were pulled over for a traffic stop. However, that would not include arriving at your front door to arrest you.

The Monroe County Clerk of the Court has the following information on their website (www.clerk-of-the-court.com/other/Jury.html):

Jury Excusal Form

Requests to be excused must be submitted in writing and RECEIVED AT LEAST FIVE DAYS PRIOR to the reporting date shown on the summons form.

Upon request, you will be excused for the reasons shown below:

I am 70 years of age or older and wish to be permanently excused.

I am 70 years of age or older and wish to be excused for this term only.

I am not a legal resident of Monroe County, Florida.

I am not a citizen of the United States.

I am a convicted felon and my civil rights have not been restored.

I am under prosecution for a crime.

I am an expectant mother and/or a parent not employed full time and have custody of a child under 6 years of age.

IMPORTANT:

Once summoned, unless there is a statutory exemption as listed above, the only authority who can excuse you from juror duty is the judge of the court to which you have been summoned. If further information is required, please call the jury clerk at: 305-292-3500.

If requesting excusal, please return the signed summons to the Jury Department.

Clerk of Courts, P.O. Box 1980, Key West, FL 33041-1980.

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