Jury Duty Summons: What It Is and What Ignoring It Does

A jury summons arrived in your mail. This page explains, in plain words, what it is, what happens if you ignore it, and what to do instead.

Facts checked November 2026.

What a summons is

A jury summons is a court order. It tells you to appear at the courthouse on a stated date for possible jury service.

It is not an invitation. It is not junk mail. Throwing it away does not cancel it.

Appearing is not the same as serving on a jury. Many people who report are never picked for a jury and are released. But the duty to report — or to contact the court the way the summons directs — is real either way.

Your summons may come from a federal court or from a state or local court. The name of the court is printed on the summons. That court's instructions are the ones that govern you, so read the paper itself first.

If you ignore a federal summons

Federal law covers what happens when someone summoned for federal jury service simply does not show up. The law is 28 U.S.C. § 1866(g), and it works in two steps:

First, the district court may order you to appear and show cause — that means come in and explain why you did not follow the summons. Second, if you cannot show good cause, the court may punish you.

“Any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed may be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and show cause for failure to comply with the summons. Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned not more than three days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination thereof.”

Answer the juror questionnaire honestly, too. Federal law provides the same penalties — a fine of not more than $1,000, imprisonment of not more than three days, community service, or a combination — for willfully misrepresenting a material fact on a juror qualification form, whether the aim was to avoid service or to get on a jury (28 U.S.C. § 1864(b)). There is no safe version of lying on the form.

What usually happens before any penalty

Courts generally do not jump straight to punishment. Exact steps vary from court to court, but the usual pattern looks like this:

1. A follow-up notice or a second summons

   The court writes again. This is a chance to fix the problem by contacting the court.

2. An order to show cause

   A formal order to appear before the court and explain the failure. This is another chance to fix it — by showing up and explaining.

3. A penalty, only if there is no good cause

   The fine, jail time, or community service described above comes at the end of this road, not the start.

The people who end up penalized are the ones who ignore every notice. Each step is a door that is still open — contact the court and walk through it.

State and local courts

Most jury summonses come from state or local courts, not federal ones. Those courts run their own jury systems, with their own rules and their own penalties, and those penalties vary widely from place to place.

The same basic pattern applies: ignoring the summons does not make it go away. The follow-ups keep coming, and the consequences grow.

You do not need to guess what your court requires. The court's phone number is printed on your summons. Call it and ask.

If the date is a genuine problem

A bad date is a common, normal problem — and courts plan for it. Postponements and excuses are handled by the court that summoned you, using the instructions printed on the summons itself. There is a phone number and/or a website on it for exactly this purpose.

In federal court, the Jury Selection and Service Act allows courts to excuse or defer a juror for “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.” State and local courts have their own versions of the same idea.

If you think you don't qualify

Maybe you are not a citizen. Maybe you are under 18, no longer live in the court's district, or have a felony record that affects your eligibility. Whatever the reason, the answer is the same:

The summons and its questionnaire are how you tell the court. Fill out the form truthfully, or contact the court and say so. The court decides whether you qualify — not you, silently, at home.

Not qualifying is a reason to respond. It is never a reason to ignore the summons.

Sources

• Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses — Jury Service pages of the U.S. Courts website (uscourts.gov), published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Covers federal juror qualifications, exemptions, and excuses for “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.”
• 28 U.S.C. § 1866 — Selection and summoning of jury panels (U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo.gov). Subsection (g) sets out the show-cause order and the penalties quoted on this page.
• 28 U.S.C. § 1864(b) — the companion provision applying the same penalties to failure to complete the juror qualification form and to willful misrepresentation of a material fact on that form.

Facts checked November 2026.