Jury Duty - Chicago,IL

I was able to reschedule my jury duty date this summer because I was scheduled to fly my son to CA the next day. They moved it to a week after I returned.

I would call the jury commissioner and let them know that you have to go out of town to visit your dying FIL a few days after your jury duty summons. Let them know that you are concerned because if you were assigned to a trial you a)would not have the time to serve and b)you would not be able to give your full attention.

Ask to have your duty rescheduled for a later date. If you are asking to actually SERVE your jury duty, you usually have better luck than if you're asking to have your duty canceled.

Good luck.

T.

There is a number on your summons where you can call and verbally request a 3- or 6-month extension. Very simple.

Also, I had a conflict similar to yours once (minus the pregnancy) and I wrote a letter stating my conflict (it actually was my first day to submit payroll at a company I helped start and nobody knew how to do it but me) and they excused me. You could try that as well. Either way I'm sure they will work with you. I've never had a problem changing things around with them (I live in a Chicago suburb so it's the same court system as yours).

Our summons we get here in CA has a one time postpone option, its usually in the bottom right corner of the summons.

I have had jury duty interfere with classes several times and they have always rescheduled it for me. Just call and let them know that you are teaching a class and so you won't be available at the times they need you. Often they will reschedule you. It doesn't hurt to ask!

I live in California and you can ask for a deferrment. I just got a summons and said that I couldn't serve as I had some unscheduled medical appointments coming up. It wasn't a lie. At the time I was served my summons, I didn't know the dates, but I knew they would be in July.

They deferred me with no questions asked. Which was a good thing because I ended up being in the hospital on the first day of jury call.

If you've never been summoned before, it's quite easy to get out of it. You just have to indicate when you think you WILL be available to serve. It takes a while for the cycle to repeat and get around to you again.

Don't stress. Ask to be deferred. If you use a medical reason, chances are they won't even contact your health care professional. They have a large pool of jurors to begin with and realize that some will not be able to attend.

Best wishes.

They are usually pretty good about letting you put it off. The least you can do is tell them you are going out of town then to see your FIL who is dying and be specific. The more they know the more likely they are going to be to let you put it off until after the baby is born and a little older.

I had one friend that no matter how she planned her pregnancies she always got a jury notice within the first month after the baby was born. But she never served once due to being a breastfeeding mommy.

Can't you just ask for an extension? I did that once. (And then we moved out of the county before they called me again... score! ;) There should be an option on the jury duty card that you can mail back, and it has different options on it, like breastfeeding mother, 6-month extension, or that's when you have a vacation scheduled, or whatever. If the jury duty card doesn't have that on there, then call on Monday and ask how to get an extension.

I'd serve jury duty and continue being a leader and setting a good example.

Since you have children that require a babysitter, that is usually an excuse right there.... they don't give you enough money to make up for the cost of the childcare.

Call the number on the card and ask about the childcare exemption..... don't say that your husband could watch them... just say that childcare would cost me however much and you really can't afford to do that.

In Texas, for example, you can be excused if you have a child under age 10 and that would leave them unsupervised....

http://www.courts.state.tx.us/tjc/juryinfo/exemption.asp

However, Cook County (llinois) provides childcare, so I don't know if that will help exempt you...

http://19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us/findit/Pages/faq_jury...?

However... if you explain that the next week you are leaving to see your dying FIL, they may consider that enough of an exemption... some trials can last a long time.... They may give you a hardship exemption.... just call and ask!

for our small town, jury duty runs for a 3 month cycle. You call in each week & enter your code to see if you're being called for the day/week. What a pain!

as an inhome daycare provider, this would have ended my business & income. I requested a dismissal for jury duty based on the impact.... not only for my daycare....but for all of the families under my care. The circuit clerk's office agreed. I was sooooo thankful!

In my county (Palm Beach) expectant mothers are excused - all you have to do is check the slot on the form and send it back in in time.

We also have the option to postpone up to 2 times within 6 months.

I would call the jury office and speak to a coordinator, and ask them how to go about getting excused (explain pregnancy) due to hardship.

I just reported to jury duty this past Thursday (luckily not picked) so I can empathize!

Write in and ask to be excused. They don't want a pregnant woman on the jury, surely.

Don't think FOR A MINUTE that it could only be for one day. My husband, an executive who had an important job, got stuck for 3 WEEKS on jury duty. He'd go into the office at 6 in the morning, go back at lunch, then til 9:00 at night. He STILL got flack from his jerk of a boss back then, who didn't seem to understand that it wasn't his fault that he didn't get out of jury duty.

I'll bet that they wouldn't have picked him if he had been a pregnant woman. Pull out all the stops right now.

Dawn

Around here you can reschedule one time.

Call the courts and see if this is possible.

I enjoyed my time on a 4 day jury and learned a lot about the system. I completely understand that sometimes there is a scheduling conflict and I believe they work with you as long as you don't make a habit out of making excuses and your excuse is for real.

It is possible that you can go to jury duty and be out quickly and manage both as well.

Good luck.

Contact the court and explain that you are pregnant so at this time you would like a medical exemption, if you need a note from your midwife do so. I don't think that would be a problem

I was on a jury 9 months pregnant! I thought they would excuse me, but nope! I actually really enjoyed the experience.
I agree that you should call the court. There should be a number to call on your summons. You may have to put your reasons in writing. Explain what you explained to us and offer to get signed up again in 3 or 6 months, after your baby is born (I assume).
They may not let you out of it, but they may, or you may get called but not asked to serve. In general, I would never recommend lying to the court.

Is there anyway you could call and ask them to reschedule your date for Jury duty? I don't know if that's even possible....

In the state of IL you can be excused if you are the primary care provider for your child/children that are under 12. I got one a few months ago and called them, they said to just write that on the summons and send it back, make sure you include the age of your children on there.
i have 3 kids under 5, so no way for me to go...