Jury Duty

old_time_girl

And not just any jury duty. No. I get blessed with GRAND jury duty.
Yay me.
I'm a SAHM. What in the world am I suppose to do with DS? Pretty sure they won't let him come. Do they provide child care?

OhSewCrafty

Between the child care issue and being pregnant, you will likely be excused. Look into you options where you live. Grand jury duty can last weeks!

Bink720

I'm a SAHM and just went through this.  They told me that I am exempt from Jury Duty for as long as I have children that are not yet school age.  Making me find and pay for child care is considered a hardship.  I couldn't find anything about this on the website and when I called in I just got automated messages.  I sat through my first morning of it looked like I might get picked.  So I went up to the attendance clerk/receptionist (sorry I don't know her title) and asked her if we were allowed to use the free child care.  Jurors are not allowed, because they could have a child in the daycare with the plaintiff/defendants child and that could cause a conflict of interest.  When I asked her what she expected me to do, because after my 2 days were up I would be showing up with a 2 year old on my hip. And she said I should have mentioned it when I first walked in.  SAHM's are exempt until their children are in school.  HTH!  GL!

old_time_girl

Bink720:

I'm a SAHM and just went through this. nbsp;They told me that I am exempt from Jury Duty for as long as I have children that are not yet school age. nbsp;Making me find and pay for child care is considered a hardship. nbsp;I couldn't find anything about this on the website and when I called in I just got automated messages. nbsp;I sat through my first morning of it looked like I might get picked. nbsp;So I went up to the attendance clerk/receptionist sorry I don't know her title and asked her if we were allowed to use the free child care. nbsp;Jurors are not allowed, because they could have a child in the daycare with the plaintiff/defendants child and that could cause a conflict of interest. nbsp;When I asked her what she expected me to do, because after my 2 days were up I would be showing up with a 2 year old on my hip. And she said I should have mentioned it when I first walked in. nbsp;SAHM's are exempt until their children are in school. nbsp;HTH! nbsp;GL!

OMG! Thank you! I could kiss you right now. I was going to call tomorrow, and probably still will, but i was worried about stupid automated FAQ stuff. So, if i do have to show up the first day, they do provide child care until I'm excused?

MechanicMama1

You can deff be excused because I just had this prob

Bink720

old_time_girl:

[

OMG! Thank you! I could kiss you right now. I was going to call tomorrow, and probably still will, but i was worried about stupid automated FAQ stuff. So, if i do have to show up the first day, they do provide child care until I'm excused?

I don't know if they'll have childcare just to be excused.  I actually had my grandma watching Landon the day I went in.  It was my second time getting called up in just over 2 years and the first time I was 6 months pregnant and it was so slow I got excused early.  So I just asked my grandma if she would watch him while I did my mandatory 2 days.  When I realized how busy they were and that there was a good chance most of us were going to get called up for one trial or another I spoke to the receptionist.  If you have a number to call I would definitely try getting a hold of them before hand.  If I get called up again, I'm literally walking in, kids in tow, because my particular courthouse doesn't have any way to contact them before hand.  Other than trying to get it deferred for 6 months because of previous obligations. But I know for sure that it's considered a hardship in my area.  I would definitely try and get a hold of somebody before your Jury Duty date if you can. 

old_time_girl

Bink720:

old_time_girl:

[

OMG! Thank you! I could kiss you right now. I was going to call tomorrow, and probably still will, but i was worried about stupid automated FAQ stuff. So, if i do have to show up the first day, they do provide child care until I'm excused?

I don't know if they'll have childcare just to be excused.  I actually had my grandma watching Landon the day I went in.  It was my second time getting called up in just over 2 years and the first time I was 6 months pregnant and it was so slow I got excused early.  So I just asked my grandma if she would watch him while I did my mandatory 2 days.  When I realized how busy they were and that there was a good chance most of us were going to get called up for one trial or another I spoke to the receptionist.  If you have a number to call I would definitely try getting a hold of them before hand.  If I get called up again, I'm literally walking in, kids in tow, because my particular courthouse doesn't have any way to contact them before hand.  Other than trying to get it deferred for 6 months because of previous obligations. But I know for sure that it's considered a hardship in my area.  I would definitely try and get a hold of somebody before your Jury Duty date if you can. 

Ok, if i can't get a hold of someone to answer my questions before i have to go in, I'm going to have to bring DS in with me. I wonder how well that will go over? I bet I'll get some answers though! Thank you for your help!

NicoleSB80

In my area you can just write or call in and if you are the only sah parent ie primary caretaker you are immediately excused. Dont even have to show up on the day of.

Ooglybear

NicoleSB80:

In my area you can just write or call in and if you are the only sah parent ie primary caretaker you are immediately excused. Dont even have to show up on the day of.

This for my area as well. I had to do this a few weeks ago. I actually really wanted to serve, but without knowing how long jury duty would last I couldn't arrange care.  

skoogirl

I go through the jury duty dance every single year. I got it post-poned when I was 9 months pregnant, but had issues with breastfeeding.  Apparently, Baltimore City will only excuse you to breastfeed for one year after the birth of the child and you must prove the age of the child and that you are breastfeeding, but with both a birth certificate and doctor's note...After they lost the first doctor note I refused to just fax them my son's birth certificate because I figured they'd just lose that too.  I wrote to my city council member and to my state representative (whose secretary had 5 kids) and they made calls to finally get my jury duty post-poned until my son reached 1 year old.  I told them I'd be happy to pump if they had a clean room or would let me go to my car at lunch, but they said that they cannot accomodate that.  I can understand since I used to be a paralegal for many years and sat through many trials.  Lunch breaks are not guaranteed.  I received a jury summons approximately 1 week after my son's first birthday.  Luckily by then he was only nursing at bedtime.

Luckily, I haven't had grand jury duty or jury duty in federal court, because the rules are different (they are different in every court and every jurisdiction).  But I have been picked for juries 4 times and have been called for jury duty over 10 times.  Living in cities like DC and Baltimore will do that to you.

skoogirl

To add to that: I went through the ringer to get my jury duty postponed for breastfeeding, but since my husband watches our son full time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they excused him right away.  Sigh!

skoogirl

Oh and I highly discourage you from bringing your child and/or children into the courthouse at all.  It is not a safe place.  It is by nature, filled with criminals of all types.  Plus, there are guns involved and very unhappy, angry people.  Find a way to leave the kids home if at all possible.

Lastly, the person to contact at the courthouse is either the jury commissioner or clerk of the court.   You should be able to find their phone numbers on the court's website.

pinottoparenthood

old_time_girl:

Bink720:

old_time_girl:

[

OMG! Thank you! I could kiss you right now. I was going to call tomorrow, and probably still will, but i was worried about stupid automated FAQ stuff. So, if i do have to show up the first day, they do provide child care until I'm excused?

I don't know if they'll have childcare just to be excused.  I actually had my grandma watching Landon the day I went in.  It was my second time getting called up in just over 2 years and the first time I was 6 months pregnant and it was so slow I got excused early.  So I just asked my grandma if she would watch him while I did my mandatory 2 days.  When I realized how busy they were and that there was a good chance most of us were going to get called up for one trial or another I spoke to the receptionist.  If you have a number to call I would definitely try getting a hold of them before hand.  If I get called up again, I'm literally walking in, kids in tow, because my particular courthouse doesn't have any way to contact them before hand.  Other than trying to get it deferred for 6 months because of previous obligations. But I know for sure that it's considered a hardship in my area.  I would definitely try and get a hold of somebody before your Jury Duty date if you can. 

Ok, if i can't get a hold of someone to answer my questions before i have to go in, I'm going to have to bring DS in with me. I wonder how well that will go over? I bet I'll get some answers though! Thank you for your help!

If anything, that should get you off the hook even faster. I say go for it.