If you’ve been summoned for federal jury duty in Connecticut, your service runs through the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on a two-month on-call basis, pays $50 a day plus mileage, and comes with a state law that keeps your regular wages flowing from a full-time employer for the first five days. The federal rules decide who serves and what happens if you don’t; Connecticut law decides what your paycheck looks like while you’re there.
Start With the Qualification Questionnaire
The first envelope from the court is usually not a summons. It’s a Juror Qualification Questionnaire, and federal law requires you to complete and return it, either through the court’s eJuror portal or by mail.1United States District Court, District of Connecticut. Am I Required to Complete and Return the Juror Qualification Questionnaire It asks about your citizenship, employment, criminal history, and any physical limitations that could affect your ability to serve. The court uses your answers to decide whether you’re legally qualified before putting you on the summons list.
Return it by the deadline printed on the form. The online version takes about ten minutes.2United States District Court, District of Connecticut. eJuror Login Page
Who Qualifies and Who Doesn’t
The court pulls names from voter registration rolls and driver’s license records. To qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18, a resident of the District of Connecticut for at least one year, and able to read, write, speak, and understand English well enough to fill out the questionnaire.
Two things disqualify you automatically: a currently pending felony charge, or a prior conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment where your civil rights haven’t been restored. A mental or physical condition that prevents adequate service, even with reasonable accommodations, also disqualifies you.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service No one may be excluded on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or economic status.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1862 – Discrimination Prohibited
Getting Excused, Exempted, or Deferred
If the dates don’t work, you have two paths. A deferral postpones you to a later two-month term and is commonly granted for prepaid travel or school commitments. An excuse releases you entirely and requires a stronger showing.
Automatic Exemptions
Three groups are exempt from federal jury service and cannot serve even if they want to: active-duty members of the Armed Forces; members of any state, local, or federal fire or police department; and public officers who were elected or directly appointed by an elected official and are actively performing those duties full-time in any branch of government.5United States District Court, District of Connecticut. What Factors May Exempt or Excuse Me From Jury Service
Who Can Request an Excuse
In the District of Connecticut, you can ask in writing to be excused if you’re 75 or older (the excuse can be permanent), if you served on a federal grand or petit jury within the past two years, or if you’re a volunteer firefighter, rescue squad member, or ambulance crew member. Beyond those categories, the court can excuse anyone who shows undue hardship or extreme inconvenience. Sole responsibility for a young child or an elderly family member is a familiar example. Requests go in writing with supporting documentation, and a judge decides. The court can also simply move you to a different two-month term rather than excuse you outright.5United States District Court, District of Connecticut. What Factors May Exempt or Excuse Me From Jury Service
What Happens If You Ignore the Summons
This isn’t a parking ticket. The court can order you to appear and explain yourself, and if you can’t show good cause, a federal judge can fine you up to $1,000, sentence you to as many as three days in jail, order community service, or combine any of these.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1866 – Selection and Summoning of Jury Panels The same maximum penalties apply if you lie on the qualification questionnaire to avoid service.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1864 – Drawing of Names From the Master Jury Wheel If you genuinely can’t serve, request a deferral or excuse through eJuror. Don’t go silent.
The Two-Month On-Call Term and Where You Report
Petit jurors in the District of Connecticut serve on an on-call basis for a two-month term. On-call doesn’t mean showing up every day. The court contacts you when it needs a panel for a specific case, and weeks can pass without a call.8United States District Court, District of Connecticut. What Is the Length of Service for a Juror If you’re seated on a trial, you serve until it ends, even if that stretches past your two months. Most federal trials in Connecticut finish within a few days to a couple of weeks; complex cases run longer.
The district holds proceedings at three courthouses: the Richard C. Lee U.S. Courthouse in New Haven, the Abraham Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford, and the Brien McMahon Federal Building in Bridgeport. Your summons tells you which one and when. The evening before your reporting date, check the court’s automated jury information system by phone or online. Trials settle, schedules shift, and you may be told to stay home.
Pay, Mileage, and Taxes
You receive $50 for each day you’re required to attend. On a trial lasting more than ten days, the presiding judge may raise your rate by up to $10, bringing it to $60 per day for each day beyond the tenth.9United States Courts. Juror Pay
Mileage reimbursement for the round trip between home and courthouse is paid at a per-mile rate set by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, regardless of how you actually travel. Tolls are reimbursed in full, and you can submit receipts for reasonable parking. If your service requires an overnight stay near the courthouse, you become eligible for a subsistence allowance covering meals and lodging at the same rates federal employees receive in the same area.
Jury duty pay is taxable income no matter the amount, reported on Schedule 1 of your federal return. You’ll receive a Form 1099-MISC if the court pays you $600 or more in a calendar year,10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information but you still report smaller amounts. Mileage, toll, and parking reimbursements aren’t taxable. If your employer keeps paying your full salary and makes you hand over the jury fees in exchange, you can deduct the amount you turned over as an adjustment to income on Schedule 1.11Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income
Employer Wages and Job Protection
Connecticut law requires employers to pay full-time employees their regular wages for the first five days of jury service. Full-time here means you normally work 30 or more hours per week in a position that isn’t temporary or casual. Temp agency workers qualify only after more than 90 days in the same assignment.12Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 51 Chapter 884 Section 51-247
Part-time and unemployed jurors don’t get employer-paid wages, but the state reimburses them for necessary out-of-pocket expenses during those first five days. Full-time workers also get that reimbursement for any day they wouldn’t have been scheduled to work anyway.12Justia Law. Connecticut Code Title 51 Chapter 884 Section 51-247
Federal law separately makes it illegal for any employer to fire, threaten, intimidate, or otherwise punish a permanent employee for serving on a federal jury or being scheduled to serve. Employers who violate the protection face a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per violation and can be ordered to pay the employee’s lost wages and benefits. If you’re fired or penalized, you can file a claim in federal district court. The court can order reinstatement with full seniority, as though you’d been on leave. If the claim appears to have probable merit, the court will appoint an attorney at no cost, and a prevailing employee can recover reasonable attorney’s fees.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1875 – Protection of Jurors Employment
If You’re Summoned for a Grand Jury Instead
A federal grand jury doesn’t decide guilt or innocence. It reviews evidence from prosecutors and decides whether charges should be filed. The commitment is longer: grand jurors serve up to 18 months, and a judge can extend the term to 24 months. The schedule is lighter, usually one or two days a week depending on caseload.14United States Courts. Types of Juries The $50 daily fee is the same, but grand jurors become eligible for the $10 increase only after 45 days of actual service, versus 10 days for petit jurors.9United States Courts. Juror Pay