How hard is it to get out of Jury Duty

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So Federal jury duty isn't based on where you live?

Western PWC is not 90 minutes from Alexandria (I grew in PWC, I know it forwards and backwards). Maybe in rush hour, sure, but not in normal driving conditions.

I have lived in Alexandria for over 5 years and haven't been called once.

What kind of job does your husband have that he doesn't get paid if he doesn't work?

No, it is. But it's based on the federal districts. The Eastern District of Virginia has four divisions: Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News. The Alexandria Division includes Alexandria and Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties. So the odds that you have to travel further for federal jury duty are higher than for state jury duty, where each county has a courthouse.

And lots of people have jobs where they don't get paid if they don't work.

[Anonymous]

I would ask for a hardship exemption, it if they won't grant it, ask to be deferred to a week around Christmas. The court doesn't have jury trials all the time, and the judges don't seem to like to schedule them at Christmas. They have an automated system that tells you whether you are needed or not. I had Federal jury duty in December last year and never even had to go to the courthouse.