If you were summoned for Anne Arundel County jury duty, you need to do three things: complete and return the Juror Qualification Form within 10 days, check your reporting status after 5:00 p.m. the evening before your service week starts, and show up at the Circuit Court at 8 Church Circle in Annapolis when your number is called. Pay is $30 a day, juror parking at the Park Place Garage runs $3.99, and your employer cannot fire you for serving.
Start With the Qualification Form
Your summons packet includes a Juror Qualification Form and a Juror ID number for the Maryland Judiciary’s online portal. The form asks about citizenship, residency, English proficiency, and criminal history. Return it within 10 days of receiving it.1Maryland Courts. Juror Qualification Form
Don’t let it sit. Failing to return the form can cost you up to $1,000, up to 30 days in jail, or both.1Maryland Courts. Juror Qualification Form Failing to appear after being summoned is worse: up to $1,000 in fines, up to 60 days in jail, or both.2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 8-504 – Failure to Appear for Jury Service Return the form on time even if you plan to ask for an excuse.
To qualify, you must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen, a resident of Anne Arundel County on the day you’d be sworn in, and able to read, write, speak, and understand English well enough to follow proceedings. A pending charge for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison disqualifies you, as does a prior conviction with a sentence over a year unless you’ve been pardoned.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 8-103 – Jury Service
Can You Get Out of It?
Possibly, but only one group walks away without a reason. If you’re over 70, the qualification form has a box asking whether you want to be exempted. Check yes and you’re done, no documentation required.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 8-302
Everyone else has to show extreme inconvenience, public necessity, or undue hardship, and the jury judge or jury commissioner decides case by case.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 8-402 – Disqualification, Excusal, or Exemption of Individuals From Jury Duty A medical excuse needs a statement from your healthcare provider. If your condition is temporary, you’ll be excused for this service period only and resummoned later. Breastfeeding mothers and parents with sole custody of a child under three who needs continuous care during court hours can also ask to be excused, but neither is automatic.
If you can serve but not right now, ask for a deferral through the online portal or by contacting the jury office. Travel, work conflicts, and other short-term problems are usually handled this way. One limit worth knowing: a juror can only be excused twice unless a judge finds extraordinary circumstances.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 8-402 – Disqualification, Excusal, or Exemption of Individuals From Jury Duty
Disability isn’t an excuse by itself. The court must provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA. If you need one, contact the Anne Arundel County Jury Office as soon as your summons arrives and follow the instructions on the summons rather than the court’s general accommodation request form.6Maryland Courts. Accommodations
One note on what kind of jury you’ve been called for. The summons will say whether it’s a trial jury or a grand jury. Grand jury service is a much longer commitment, typically a couple of days a week for several months, so read the summons closely before assuming you’re looking at a single week.
How to Know When to Show Up
Anne Arundel County uses a call-in system. After 5:00 p.m. the evening before your service period starts, call 410-222-1438 or check the court’s website. Each juror has a call-in number, and the recorded message says which numbers report the next day and which are released. Check every evening of your service week.7Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Juror Call In Procedure
Weather exception: if Anne Arundel County schools are closed or on virtual learning due to bad weather before 7:15 a.m., jurors don’t report that day. Check back after 5:00 p.m. for updated instructions.7Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Juror Call In Procedure
Reporting to the Courthouse
The courthouse is at 8 Church Circle in Annapolis.8Anne Arundel County Government. Court House Locations Juror parking is at the Park Place Garage, 1 Park Place, with entrances off Taylor Avenue and West Street. The juror rate is $3.99 per day. Scan a QR code inside the garage to start your parking session, then scan a second QR code at the courthouse to get the discounted rate. A Circulator Trolley runs between the garage and the courthouse.9Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Juror Parking
Bring your juror badge — the bottom portion of your summons — to speed up check-in. You’ll pass through security at the entrance. Your first morning includes a short orientation with a video and a staff briefing.10Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Jury Service
Dress business casual. Shorts, tank tops, halter tops, bare midriffs, and exposed undergarments aren’t allowed.11Maryland Courts. At the Courthouse – Section: What to Wear Leave weapons, cameras, and recording equipment at home. Cell phones are generally allowed but must be silenced during proceedings. Expect long stretches of waiting in the assembly room, so bring something to read or a device to occupy yourself.
How Long You’ll Serve
Trial jurors in Anne Arundel County are assigned a one-week service period. If you’re seated on a trial, you serve through the end of that trial even if it runs past the week. Most trials wrap in two or three days.10Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Jury Service
Once you’ve served, you generally won’t be summoned again for at least three years. One exception: if your total service was under five days, your county’s jury plan may let you be called back after one year.12Maryland Courts. Jury Service – FAQs
Pay and Taxes
You’re paid $30 for each day you appear, whether or not you’re seated on a trial.10Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. Jury Service A check is mailed to your home after your service ends.
Jury pay is taxable, and you report it on your federal return. If your employer kept paying your regular salary while you served and required you to hand over the jury stipend, you can deduct the amount you turned over as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, so the same money isn’t taxed twice.13Internal Revenue Service. Skills Warm Up – Jury Duty Pay Given to Employer
What Your Employer Can and Can’t Do
Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 8-501, your employer can’t fire you, threaten you, or retaliate against you for responding to a summons or attending jury duty at the circuit court. Violations carry fines up to $1,000.
There’s also a shift rule that catches employers off guard: if you served four or more hours (travel time counts), your employer can’t require you to work a shift starting at or after 5:00 p.m. that day, or before 3:00 a.m. the next day. And your employer can’t force you to use vacation, sick, or personal leave to cover jury service.
What they aren’t required to do is pay you. Private employers in Maryland don’t have to continue your regular wages during jury service, so whether your paycheck keeps coming depends on company policy.14U.S. Department of Labor. Jury Duty