Yes, you can usually take your phone to jury duty, but whether you can carry it past the security checkpoint and how you can use it inside depends entirely on the courthouse you’re reporting to. Some federal and state courthouses allow phones throughout the building as long as they’re silenced. Others limit possession to attorneys and court staff. A smaller number ban personal electronic devices at the front door.1United States Courts. Portable Communication Devices in Courthouses Even where phones are welcome in the lobby, the rules tighten sharply once you step into a courtroom.
Check Your Courthouse’s Policy Before You Leave Home
Federal courts are directed to post their electronic device policies on their websites and in juror notices.1United States Courts. Portable Communication Devices in Courthouses Read your jury summons closely; it may spell out what you can and can’t bring. If the summons is silent, search the specific courthouse name along with “electronic devices” or “cell phone policy,” or call the clerk’s number printed on the summons.
This one call can save you a lot of trouble. If your court bans phones and offers no storage, you’ll have to walk back to your car before you can enter, and some courthouses aren’t near convenient parking.
Where You Can Use Your Phone
In courthouses that allow devices, the jury assembly room is the most relaxed zone. This is where you wait before being called to a courtroom, and checking messages, reading, or light browsing with the ringer off is generally fine. Some assembly rooms even offer Wi-Fi and charging ports.
Hallways and common areas outside courtrooms are also usually acceptable places for quiet phone use during breaks and recesses. Keep the volume off, step away from courtroom doors, and treat the building like a library.
What You Can’t Do Inside the Courtroom
Once you enter a courtroom for jury selection, trial, or deliberations, jurors face tighter device restrictions than almost anyone else in the building.1United States Courts. Portable Communication Devices in Courthouses At a minimum, your phone has to be silent or in airplane mode. Many judges require it powered off entirely.
Photographing, recording, or broadcasting proceedings in a federal criminal case is prohibited under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 53 – Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited Most state courts follow similar rules. Even a quick photo of an empty courtroom can bring trouble if the judge has forbidden it.
No Researching the Case
This is where most juror phone problems happen. You cannot Google the defendant, look up a legal term you heard in court, read news coverage of the trial, pull up the crime scene on Google Maps, or search anything connected to the case. Federal model jury instructions state it plainly: jurors must not use cellphones, computers, or any other device to conduct research or investigation regarding the case, the people involved, or the legal issues at play.3United States Courts. Proposed Model Jury Instructions
The prohibition covers every phase of the trial. Judges typically repeat the reminder each morning, before recesses, and at the end of each day. That repetition is intentional. A single search can force the entire trial to restart.
No Posting or Texting About the Case
Social media is equally off-limits. You can’t tweet about jury selection, post an Instagram story describing testimony, or text a friend your take on a witness. The model instructions specifically list Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Snapchat as prohibited channels for anything you’ve seen or heard in the courtroom.3United States Courts. Proposed Model Jury Instructions The restriction lasts until the judge formally releases you at the end of the trial.
Smartwatches, Earbuds, and Other Wearables Count
Court policies don’t stop at phones. The Judicial Conference guidance defines “portable communication devices” broadly enough to cover smartwatches, fitness trackers, earpieces, wireless headphones, tablets, and laptops. Anything that connects wirelessly falls under the same rules as your phone.1United States Courts. Portable Communication Devices in Courthouses If phones are banned from the courtroom, expect your Apple Watch or Fitbit to be treated the same way.
Courthouses That Ban Phones at the Door
Some courthouses don’t let personal electronic devices past security at all. The U.S. Marshals Service warns that cell phones may be among the items banned from federal court facilities, and that courthouses generally don’t provide storage for prohibited items.4U.S. Marshals Service. What To Expect When Visiting a Courthouse If you arrive at one of these buildings with a phone, you’ll have to leave and stash it somewhere off-site.
Plan around this before your service date. If you rely on your phone for rideshare pickup, parking payments, or transit passes, work out a backup. A locked glove compartment and a paperback book are the reliable fallbacks.
Medical Devices and Accommodations
If you depend on an electronic medical device, such as an insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor that pairs with your phone, or a Bluetooth-enabled hearing aid, contact the court before your service date to request an accommodation. Courts are required to provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA, and most have a coordinator or a form for disability-related requests.
Reach out early. Explain the device and why you need it, and be prepared to provide a note from your doctor. The judge may approve the request outright, allow your phone in silent mode for medical monitoring, or arrange extra recesses. In some cases, the court may excuse you from service if no workable accommodation exists. The sooner you raise it, the more options you’ll have.
What Happens If You Break the Rules
Consequences escalate quickly. The lightest outcome is losing your device to a court officer for the rest of the day. Judges aren’t required to give a warning first, and some courts have standing orders that any device making noise in a courtroom gets seized immediately.
More serious violations can bring contempt of court. Federal courts have broad authority to punish contempt by fine, imprisonment, or both when someone disobeys a court order or disrupts proceedings.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 18 – Section 401 Power of Court There’s no set cap on the fine amount, and judges have wide discretion. A separate federal statute authorizes fines up to $1,000 and up to three days in jail for jurors who fail to comply with their obligations, along with possible community service.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 28 – Section 1866
Beyond personal penalties, phone misuse can get you removed from the jury. If no alternates remain, the judge may have to declare a mistrial and start the whole case over. That outcome wastes months of work for everyone involved, and it’s the reason judges give the same phone warnings again and again.