Maybe it's because you moved. Don't they use public records to find potential jurors - car and voter registrations, tax records etc.?I don't know if there's any kind of time limitation on how often you can be called.

Or maybe you're just lucky?

No I haven't. In fact I've only been called up for jury duty twice in my whole life. Once it was cancelled before I had to go and the other time I went, spent a few hours waiting and the case was dismissed. I can't figure out what system they use to summon jurors.

Well, for 'normal'--county jury--around here, you can expect to be called pretty much every 2 years (couldn't even tell you how many times I've been summoned for that--but at least a dozen times). Beings as I said, our county includes the most violent city in the country, the county court system is pretty busy. For that, I know they use the voter registrations, licenses and car registrations for the jury pool. You only have to serve there every 2 years. Of course, I'm speaking about the 'old' county--I don't think it's quite as active at the new place.

I'm not sure how they pull the jurors for the federal system. There, too, you only have to serve if it's more than 2 years since your last summons--which it is for me. Not sure if the moving plays into that. I simply have never ever heard of ANYONE in my area getting a federal summons, so it's not THAT common, I don't think. The federal courts cover many counties, so I surely wouldn't be the only one being inconvenienced by a 40 mile drive, I guess.

Oh, and serving on regular jury has nothing to do with federal, so you can't get off of federal just because you served last month at the county level.

Well, we'll see. Of course, being a newspaper stringer, I think it's unlikely I'd be seated on most juries, anyway.

I have! About 2 years ago I was called twice within about 10 months. I sent them a letter explaining that I just did it and they let me off the hook. Phew!

I've been called nine times and two of the times were within two years of each other. My husband was never called, go figure. I only had to serve twice though.

You can be called once a year here in CA. I served eight years in a row back in the 90s. I worked my way up to foreman. :-)

Jodi-

Are these FEDERAL district court you all were called for, though? or just regular court? Federal is a whole different animal than the usual court where you might be on a jury for an auto accident, or an assault, or a murder. This is for cases with national impact--for example the big pet food case a few years back.

As I mentioned, we usually get called for 'regular' court every 2 years (sometimes less, but you only have to serve every two years). For that, you have one day you're scheduled to report. The evening before, you call, and sometimes you have to go in, sometimes you're not needed. Those cases are heard at the hall of justice in the county seat.

Federal district court is very different. There are only a couple of FDC's in our state (2 or 3, I think), so many jurors have to travel great distances to go. You're on call for an entire month--meaning you have to call EVERY NIGHT for a month to see if you need report the next day. The cases are 'big' ones that, if you get on one, you can be tied up for many months. Of course, it pays a little better than 'regular' court. I forget what you get for federal, but it seems it was $25-30/day plus mileage perhaps? while regular county court pays only $5 (no mileage) per day

My dh got called for federal jury duty.. It was over 100 miles away. He runs our business and it is hard for him to leave. Nope, couldn't get out of it. They said that you could only use a business as an excuse if the business ceases to exist if you are gone. I know it is your duty but it was a real pain.

I have jury duty the month of May. Grrrr.

Twice in 3 yrs for federal duty? That is just too much.

I was called for Federal jury duty once. I got picked and served on a trial that lasted two weeks. I enjoyed it. The case was a woman who had embezzled money from a credit union, which is insured by FDIC, so that made it a federal case. Boy, was she sneaky and we got to hear how she spent other people's money. She spent it on her "boy toy", gambling in Atlantic City, etc. She was hardly desperate, just couldn;'t keep her fingers out of the cookie jar. We found her guilty, of course.

That was the only time I was called for Federal duty, but I have been called several times for the county, and been on two juries.

For federal, people who traveled over a certain distance to serve were offered hotel rooms.

I'm not sure free lancing for a newspaper will keep you from being selected - unless you're writing articles on the criminal justice system. Years ago they would drop me because DH is a physician. Now I have an attorney in my immediate family and the last time I was called I was selected. Perhaps they're having trouble getting people to serve so they're not as picky as they used to be.

Now that I am retired, I would love to be called for jury duty. Over 30 years ago, when I was a single mom with a 3 yr. old, I got summoned for federal jury duty in San Francisco which was one hour drive from my home. The first day, as I recall, we watched films and filled out forms. The next day I was called to the jury box and each of us was questioned. The case was about a federal employee who was exposed to asbestos and was ill. When they asked me if I had formed an opinion, I started answering about seeing something similar on "60 Minutes" and one of the attorneys jumped to his feet and said I was excused. I was called again 6 months later and that time a jury was picked before they got to me.
There is so little crime where I live now that they don't have many juries.

In Florida, if you're over 70 you're excused. Six more months to go. Harry just got picked but there was a card to return if you couldn't serve--it gave a list of reasons that were excusable.