Jury Duty

[Mike P]

In NY you are only subject to getting called every 6 years (used to be 4, they raised it when they eliminated all the exemptions from jury duty). No one is exempt from jury service any longer---even lawyers and judges have to report for service if called, knowing there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting selected.. In my county (Suffolk, eastern LI) they put you on phone alert. They send you a number with your jury summons, and you call starting the Sunday evening before the week you're on alert. They tell you what numbers have to report to the courthouse the next day. That continues every evening until Thursday.

I was called right after they did away with the exemption for lawyers. I had to report on the Tuesday of my week. I was called to one civil case, but never got seated in the box. They selected a jury out of the people seated in the box, I was excused for lunch, came back at 2:15 and was done with jury service by 3--excused and with my certificate of service---good for 4 years at the time.

They mainly rely on voter registration lists and DMV records. If you move to another county, and change your voter registration or DMV address, you can bet on getting a jury questionaire within 3 months. If you served within the last 6 years, all you have to do is return a copy of your certificate of service and they excuse you.