Yes, you can call out of jury duty when you’re sick. Courts routinely postpone or excuse jurors for illness, but you have to notify the jury office and, in almost every case, back up your request with a doctor’s note. Ignoring the summons is the only move that gets people in real trouble.
Contact the Court as Early as You Can
Your summons is the roadmap. It lists the jury office phone number, any online juror portal, and the mailing address for written requests. Use whichever channel your court prefers, and do it as soon as you know you can’t serve.
Many courts now run online portals where you can request a postponement or excusal, upload documents, and check your reporting status. If you’d rather handle it by phone or mail, call the jury clerk or send a written request with your summons information and supporting documentation to the jury management office on your summons. Timing is what courts care about most. The earlier you notify them, the smoother the process runs.
If You Wake Up Sick the Morning You’re Due
Call the jury office immediately. The number is on your summons. Explain the situation to the jury clerk, who will give you instructions specific to that court. A last-minute illness is a recognized reason for absence, but expect to provide a doctor’s note afterward. Most courts will simply reschedule you as long as you made the call.
If you had already reported to the courthouse and became ill during the day, tell the jury clerk or judge right away.
What Your Doctor’s Note Should Say
Courts require medical documentation before granting an illness-related postponement or excusal. Formats vary, but most courts look for the same core information in a physician’s statement:
- The doctor’s name, license number, practice address, and contact information, ideally on official letterhead or a court-provided form.
- A clear statement that your medical condition prevents you from performing jury service.
- Whether the condition is temporary, with a rough recovery timeline, or permanent. This distinction decides whether the court postpones your service or excuses you entirely.
Some courts provide their own physician certification form with your summons or on their website. Using the court’s form, when one exists, is the fastest way to get a request processed. Watch for one wrinkle: certain jurisdictions instruct doctors not to disclose the specific diagnosis or private health details, asking only for the functional limitation and the expected timeline. Check your summons materials for guidance on how much medical detail your court wants.
Postponement or Excusal
A medical request usually ends in one of two outcomes, and the difference matters.
A postponement, sometimes called a deferral, reschedules your service to a later date rather than canceling it. This is the standard result for temporary conditions like the flu, a scheduled surgery, or an injury you’re recovering from. Courts typically reschedule you within the next several months. Many jurisdictions limit you to one postponement per summons, so if you defer once and then get sick again near the rescheduled date, you may need to contact the jury office directly rather than requesting another automatic deferral.
An excusal releases you from the obligation for that particular summons. Courts reserve excusals for serious, chronic, or permanent conditions that make jury service impractical for the foreseeable future. To qualify for a permanent excusal, your physician’s statement generally needs to say the condition will prevent you from ever serving. Even after an excusal, your name may remain in the jury pool for future selection cycles unless the excusal is designated as permanent.
Ask About Accommodations Before Asking to Be Excused
If your condition makes standard jury service difficult but not impossible, you may not need to bow out at all. Courts are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide reasonable modifications for jurors with disabilities. State and local courts fall under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits public entities from excluding qualified individuals with disabilities from their programs and services.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12132 – Discrimination The ADA’s Title II regulations specifically identify jurors and potential jurors as participants who must receive effective communication support and appropriate auxiliary aids.2ADA.gov. Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Regulations
In practice, courts can provide sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices, large-print materials, frequent breaks for medical needs, wheelchair-accessible seating, and similar adjustments. Contact the jury office and explain what you need. The request is usually handled informally.
What Happens If You Just Don’t Show Up
Skipping jury duty without contacting the court creates worse problems than the inconvenience it avoids. Under federal law, a juror who fails to appear without good cause can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to three days, ordered to perform community service, or face any combination of these penalties.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels State courts impose similar consequences and can also hold you in contempt of court or issue a bench warrant.
Courts don’t jump straight to punishment. The typical process starts with a warning letter or a show cause order requiring you to appear and explain why you missed your date. If you respond with a reasonable explanation, many courts will simply reschedule you. Penalties ramp up when someone ignores repeated notices or when the failure to appear was clearly deliberate. The worst outcome almost always belongs to the person who throws every piece of mail from the court in the trash, not the person who was genuinely sick and forgot to call.
If illness prevents you from serving, contact the court, provide documentation, and let the process run. Courts handle these requests every day.