Occupations That Disqualify You for Jury Duty
Whether or not you end up having to serve jury duty depends to a large degree on which state you live in. The laws for jury duty disqualification can vary from state to state. In some states, total prohibitions exist for people that work in certain professions. In others, certain jobs will flag you, and a judge will make a decision as to whether or not you should be on the jury.
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Elected Officials
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In some states, the law immediately disqualifies elected officials from serving on a jury if the legislature is in session. For instance, a busy public official in Connecticut or Texas is not required to serve jury duty. In Massachusetts, being an elected official does not excuse a person from jury duty; if selected, the person still must serve.
Active Military
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When a person is active in any of the armed services, he may be potentially disqualified from jury duty. There is no automatic disqualification however, as it is the Department of Defense's official policy to allow service members to serve on jury duty when possible. However, if jury duty will interfere with the soldier's ability to perform required military duties, then an application will be made to excuse the member from his jury duty obligation.
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Fire and Police Officers
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According to the U.S. Federal Jury Act, people who are either police officers or professional firefighters are automatically disqualified from serving on any kind of a federal jury. This is also the case with most state and local courts. In some jurisdictions this extends to all peace officers, such as customs workers, correctional employees as well as law enforcement personnel. For example, in Arizona, a peace officer is likely to be excused from jury duty. However, in order to ensure that she is excused, a police officer has to submit documentation to prove that she should be excused from jury duty. Usually, a letter from a supervising officer or the department asserting that a person is actively employed with the organization will serve.
Judges
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In some jurisdictions, people actively serving as judges or magistrates are disqualified from jury service. Connecticut is a region where judges may not serve. However, even in regions where a judge is not automatically disqualified from a jury, it is unlikely that he would actually be allowed to serve. His service would likely be rejected during the jury selection process for major cases.
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References
- State of Connecticut: Jury Administration
- Southern District of Texas: Laredo Division Juror Information
- The Massachusetts Court System: Are Your Qualified
- Service by Members of the DTIC Online; Armed Forces on State and Local Juries; 2007
- United States Courts: Frequently Asked Questions
- Arizona Judicial Branch: Jury Duty Information
Resources
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