Can age, work or school get you out of jury duty? Here are the exemptions for Texas.

Marley Malenfant , Austin American-Statesman
Updated ·3 min read

“Ugh! Jury duty!” That is what many Americans say to themselves if they receive a jury summons in the mail.

But serving on a jury is an important responsibility.

Jurors participate in a public process and fulfill a civic obligation. The service is supposed to support fairness in civil and criminal trials.

Trying to get out of jury duty isn’t wise, but there are ways legally to opt out of serving.

How to get out of jury duty in Texas

Getting excused from jury duty isn’t guaranteed. The Texas Judicial Branch has a list of exemptions that people can apply for if they were selected to serve.

Those exemptions include if you:

  • Are over 75 years of age (you may also request a permanent age 75 exemption)

  • Have legal custody of a child younger than 12 and your service on the jury requires leaving the child without adequate supervision

  • Are a student of a public or private secondary school

  • Are a person enrolled and in actual attendance at an institution of higher education

  • Are an officer or an employee of the Senate, House of Representatives, or any department, commission, board, office or other agency in the legislative branch of government

  • Have served as a petit juror in the county during the 24-month period preceding the date you are required to appear for this summons (This applies only to counties with a population of at least 200,000 unless the county uses a jury plan under § 62.011 of the government code, and the period authorized under § 62.011(b) exceeds two years.)

  • Are the primary caretaker of a person who is unable to care for himself or herself (This exemption does not apply to health care workers.)

  • Have been summoned for service in a county with a population of at least 250,000 and you have served as a petit juror in the county during the three-year period preceding the date you are to appear for jury service (This does not apply if the jury wheel has been reconstituted since your service as a petit juror.)

  • Are a member of the U. S. military forces serving on active duty and deployed to a location away from your home station and out of your county of residence

Do jurors get paid?

A juror will be paid by the county at least $6 but not more than $50 per day or fraction of a day served. The commissioners court of a county may choose to reduce or eliminate the daily compensation for prospective jurors who attend court for only one day without actually serving on a jury.

The county may choose to provide additional forms of compensation or reimbursement, including:

  • Free public transportation

  • Mileage reimbursement

  • Transportation cost reimbursement

  • Free parking

  • Child care facilities

  • Free meals

Penalties for not showing up to jury duty

A juror who is lawfully notified to attend court is subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 if that juror does the following:

  • Fails to attend court in obedience to the notice without a reasonable excuse in a timely matter

  • Files a false claim of exemption from jury service

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: How do you get out of jury duty in Texas? A look at the exemptions.