To postpone jury duty, respond to your summons before your reporting date and ask the court to move you to a later term. Federal courts handle most requests through an online system called eJuror, and you can also call or mail the form back. In federal court, you can typically reschedule within six months of your original date. Do this early. Ignoring the summons is the one option that carries real risk: up to a $1,000 fine, up to three days in jail, or community service.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels
How to File the Request
Your summons has the three things the clerk needs to find you: a juror identification number (sometimes labeled badge or participant number), your assigned reporting date, and the court location. Keep those in front of you.
Federal courts use eJuror. You log in with your juror ID, request a deferral, and, if it’s granted, pick a new service date from the available options.2United States Courts. Summoned for Federal Jury Service State courts usually have their own portals that work the same way. Check the top of your summons to see which system sent it: federal summonses come from a U.S. District Court, state summonses from a county or circuit court.
If you’d rather not use the portal, most courts also take requests by phone through an automated line or by mail using the questionnaire that came with your summons. Certified mail gives you a paper trail if the court’s system doesn’t update your record.
Submit as early as you reasonably can, and no later than about a week before your reporting date. Late requests get denied more often, and once your date passes you’re no longer asking to postpone. You’re explaining why you didn’t show up.
Reasons Courts Accept
The standard most courts apply is “undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.” You don’t need an emergency, but you do need a real conflict. Reasons that are routinely granted:
- Medical issues — recovery from surgery, ongoing treatment, or a condition that makes sitting in a courtroom for hours difficult.
- Pre-paid, non-refundable travel that falls during your service window.
- Active enrollment in classes or exams that conflict with the dates.
- Primary caregiving for young children, elderly relatives, or disabled dependents when no other caregiver is available.
- Financial hardship, particularly for self-employed workers, small business owners, and hourly workers without paid leave.
Federal jury selection plans give district courts latitude to excuse individuals or groups where service would cause undue hardship, so what a particular court accepts can vary.
Documentation That Helps
A plain request sometimes clears a first-time deferral, but attaching proof improves your odds significantly. For medical reasons, courts want a signed letter from your doctor on office letterhead, describing the condition and how long you’re expected to be affected. For travel, attach the flight itinerary or hotel confirmation showing the non-refundable dates. Students should attach a class schedule or enrollment letter. Portals let you upload directly; if you’re mailing, send photocopies and keep the originals.
After You Submit
Processing usually takes a few business days, though it depends on the court and how busy they are. Confirmation comes back through whatever channel you used — email if you filed online, a postcard if you mailed the form. An approval comes with a new summons showing your revised reporting date. Save it.
A denial means you appear on the original date. This is where people trip themselves up: they file a request, assume it bought them time, and skip the date without ever confirming approval. Filing is not approval. If you feel the denial was wrong, you can sometimes appeal to a judge, but that has to happen before your service date, not after.
How Many Times You Can Postpone
There’s no single national limit. Each court sets its own. Some federal district courts allow two postponements within one year of your original reporting date, after which the next summons is marked with language like “MUST SERVE” and further deferrals are off the table. First requests are almost always granted with little scrutiny. Second requests get more attention. By the third, expect a denial unless something genuinely extraordinary is going on. Courts expect you to serve eventually.
If You Already Missed Your Date
Call the court clerk’s office right away. The gap between an honest mistake and deliberate avoidance is mostly about how quickly you get in touch and what you can show. If you call promptly, explain what happened, and offer to reschedule, courts commonly put you on a new date without any penalty.
Bring documentation if you have it — a change-of-address confirmation if you moved and never received the summons, a hospital discharge summary if you were ill. If you’ve already received a failure-to-appear notice or a contempt citation, the situation is more serious and worth talking to an attorney about before any hearing. The court can order you to appear and explain yourself at a “show cause” hearing, and if the explanation doesn’t hold up, the judge imposes the penalty on the spot.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels
When You Can Be Excused Instead of Postponed
Postponement moves your date. Some people qualify to be excused from service entirely, which is a different request. Under federal law, active-duty military members, full-time police officers and firefighters, and public officials actively performing their duties are automatically exempt. Volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance or rescue crew members who serve without compensation can request an individual excuse under the same statute.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1863 – Plan for Random Jury Selection
Many federal district courts also grant a permanent excuse to people aged 70 or older on request. This is a court-by-court policy rather than a blanket federal rule, so check with the specific court that summoned you. A permanent medical excuse requires a doctor’s letter on official letterhead explaining why you can’t serve, regardless of age.
If you’ve served on a federal jury within the past two years, you can ask to be excused from a new summons, but you still have to respond to the summons and raise it.4United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses State courts set their own frequency rules, commonly one to six years between service.