JuryDuty101
Michigan - List of Jury Duty Excuses
Michigan - List of Jury Duty Excuses
Michigan - Getting Excused From Jury Duty
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| Jury Duty Excuses Chart For Michigan
| Situation | Jury Duty |
|---|---|
| Military |  |
| Elected Official | |
| Student | |
| Breastfeeding Mother | |
| Police | |
| Medical Worker | |
| Firefighter | |
| Disablity |  |
While jury duty is a civic requirement for all eligible citizens in Michigan, there are a number of excuses that can be used to legally get out of being required to report for jury selection or jury duty, or receive a deferral.
Michigan has a list of specific excuses that can be used to be exempt from reporting for jury duty, including excuses for military, elected official, student, breastfeeding, age, police, medical worker and firefighter. You can also be excused if you don't meet the basic eligibility requirements for jury duty in MI.
Generally, if you qualify for one of the statutory excuses, you can respond to your jury duty summons letter with an excuse note containing proof of your excuse, and you will not have to report for jury selection.
| Michigan Jury Duty Age Limit Excuse
Michigan has a statutory exemption that allows individuals over a certain age to request exemption from jury duty. Persons 70 years of age or older can ask to be exempt from performing jury service.
| Michigan Student Jury Duty Excuse
Full-time students in Michigan may submit their class schedule and be postponed to the next free term when school is not in session. This policy may vary per county.
| Michigan Breast Feeding Mother Jury Duty Excuse
In the state of Michigan, jury duty excuses vary by county. Oakland county, for example, asks for a doctor or midwife's note as proof of nursing.
| Michigan Disablity Jury Duty Excuse
In Michigan, a doctor's note needs to be provided specifying if health-related reasons are short-term or lifelong disabilities, and how they prevent the juror from providing satisfactory jury service, in order to be exempt from service.
| Other Jury Duty Excuses in Michigan
Courts typically allow only one postponement of service and of up to three months. New dates selected can only be monday, tuesday and thursday. Longer postponement requested and approved by court clerk directly, on a case by case basis.
Procedure and excuses vary per county but are generally not granted.
Can I Get Excused From Jury Duty Because I Work?
In Michigan, your employer is not allowed to penalize you for missing work for jury duty. Therefore, simply having a job isn't in itself enough to be excused from jury duty. However, some courts may excuse you if serving on a jury and missing work would cause undue hardship to either yourself or your employer.
Submitting A Jury Duty Excuse Letter
If you do not qualify for any of the Michigan statutory exemptions listed above but seriously think that attending jury selection would cause you undue hardship, you can always submit a jury duty excuse letter with your response to the summons, and ask to be excused. It will be at the discretion of the court that summoned you whether to accept or deny your excuse.
Remember - A Jury Selection Summons Doesn't Mean You'll Be On A Jury
Keep in mind that your initial jury duty summons is only for attending jury selection day, where it will be decided if you are to actually serve on a jury during the "Voir Dire" process. If you can't get out of attending jury selection, there are many ways to raise the odds that you will be excused after jury selection without being selected to serve on a jury.