If you’ve been summoned, here’s how jury duty works in New Hampshire: you complete a juror questionnaire, report to the Superior Court on your assigned date, and serve for up to 30 days unless you’re seated on a longer trial. The state pays $20 a day, your job is legally protected while you’re out, and you can request an excusal or postponement in advance if you have a real conflict.
Who Gets Summoned and Who Qualifies
New Hampshire draws jurors from residents of each county for its Superior Courts. To qualify, you must be at least 18, a United States citizen, and a resident of the county where the summons was issued.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jurors You also need to be able to read, speak, and understand English.2New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jury Service
A few things disqualify you automatically. A felony conviction that has not been annulled makes you ineligible. Moving out of the county, or out of New Hampshire entirely, ends your eligibility too. A permanent medical condition can also be grounds, but the court will look at reasonable accommodations first and only disqualify you if the condition genuinely prevents service even with those in place.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jurors
Responding to the Summons
The first thing to do when a summons arrives is complete the Juror Questionnaire. The New Hampshire Judicial Branch runs an online portal for this, and a paper version may also come with your summons.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jurors The court uses the answers to assess eligibility and screen for potential conflicts, and it won’t process any excusal or scheduling request until the questionnaire is done.
Answer honestly. If any part of the form is unclear, the Jury Center’s contact information is printed on the summons itself.
Getting Excused or Postponed
New Hampshire recognizes three categories of automatic excusal. You may be excused if you are 70 or older and don’t wish to serve, if you’re on active military duty, or if you already served on a New Hampshire Superior Court jury within the past three years.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jurors Even in these categories you still need to submit the request through the court.
If none of those apply but serving would create a real problem, you can ask a judge for a hardship excusal. The legal standard is undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, and a judge weighs each request individually.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 500-A:11 – Excuse From Jury Service A prepaid vacation, a scheduled medical procedure, or a caregiving obligation are the kinds of situations judges commonly consider. General inconvenience isn’t enough.
If the date is the only problem, ask for a postponement rather than an excusal. Submit the request by the deadline printed on your summons. Postponements are typically easier to secure because you’re still committing to serve, just later.
What to Expect on Your Reporting Day
Security screening comes first at the courthouse entrance. From there you’ll head to the juror assembly area to check in. Court staff run an orientation covering the day’s structure and the juror’s role, aimed at people who’ve never been in a courtroom.
After orientation, prospective jurors are called in groups for voir dire, the selection process where the judge and attorneys ask questions to identify biases, connections to the parties, or anything else that would affect impartiality. Attorneys also review the questionnaire you filled out. Some people are picked for a trial, some are excused, and many wait in the assembly area and are released at the end of the day without being placed. All of that counts as service.
How Long You Serve and What You’re Paid
Your maximum obligation as a petit juror is 30 days. If you’re seated on a trial that runs longer, you stay until it wraps up, but otherwise the court can’t hold you past that window.4New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 500-A:8 – Terms of Service for Jurors Grand jurors, who review evidence to decide whether criminal charges move forward, serve on terms set separately by the court.
New Hampshire pays $10 per half-day session, so $20 for a full day. A half day means either the morning or afternoon session, and the clerk decides whether you’ve met the threshold. If you live outside the town or city where the courthouse sits, you also get mileage reimbursement at $0.20 per mile for the round trip. For jurors traveling more than 50 miles one way, the clerk may count travel time toward attendance.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Jurors
That rate is among the lowest juror pay in the country. It’s meant as a token acknowledgment, not income replacement, which is why the employment protections that follow matter so much.
Your Job Is Protected While You Serve
New Hampshire law prohibits your employer from firing, threatening, or retaliating against you for responding to a jury summons or serving.5New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 500-A:14 – Protection of Jurors Employment Action Brought by Employee The protection covers the whole timeline: receiving the summons, appearing for selection, and any actual service.
If your employer fires you anyway, you have one year from the date of discharge to file a civil lawsuit. You can recover lost wages and get a court order requiring reinstatement. Damages are capped at what you actually lost in wages, but if you win the court will order the employer to pay your reasonable attorney’s fees.5New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 500-A:14 – Protection of Jurors Employment Action Brought by Employee The employer can also be held in contempt of court.
Your Employer Doesn’t Have to Pay Your Regular Wages
The law makes your employer let you serve. It doesn’t make them pay you while you’re gone. Many employers do pay through jury duty as a matter of company policy, so check your handbook or ask HR before assuming you’ll go without. If your employer offers nothing, the $20 daily state fee is the only money coming in unless a company policy says otherwise.
If You’re a Salaried Exempt Employee
Federal law adds a layer of protection here. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer cannot dock a salaried exempt employee’s pay for partial-week absences caused by jury duty.6U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Overtime Security Advisor Miss three days of a week for jury service and you still get your full weekly salary. Your employer can offset any jury fees you received against that salary, but they can’t reduce the paycheck below your normal weekly amount. The FLSA sets a federal floor that applies regardless of state law.
What Happens If You Don’t Show Up
Ignoring a jury summons carries real consequences. Under New Hampshire law, a juror who neglects to attend court without sufficient cause faces sanctions, and the court can treat a no-show as contempt. If you can’t attend for a legitimate reason, requesting an excusal or postponement before your reporting date is a far better move than simply not appearing; courts respond well to advance communication and poorly to silence.
Federal court is stricter. Failing to report for federal jury duty in the District of New Hampshire can result in a fine between $100 and $1,000, up to three days of imprisonment, or court-ordered community service.7United States District Court, District of New Hampshire. Failure to Report What Happens if I Dont Appear for Jury Duty
Federal Jury Duty Works Differently
Everything above is about the state Superior Court system. If your summons is from the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, which sits in Concord, a different set of rules applies. Federal qualifications overlap with state ones — U.S. citizen, 18 or older, English proficient, no disqualifying felony convictions — but federal service requires at least one year of residency in the judicial district rather than just county residency. People 70 or older, or who have served on a federal grand or petit jury within the past two years, may request excusal.8United States District Court, District of New Hampshire. Jury Service Qualifications Exemptions and Excuses
Federal pay is meaningfully better. Petit jurors receive $50 per day, rising to as much as $60 per day after 10 days on a single case. Grand jurors can receive the higher rate after 45 days.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1871 – Fees Federal jurors also get mileage reimbursement at a rate set by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, plus parking, meals, and lodging where applicable.
Watch Out for Jury Duty Scams
Scammers regularly call New Hampshire residents claiming they missed jury duty and face imminent arrest. The caller usually poses as a U.S. Marshal or court official, sometimes with a spoofed caller ID showing a real government number, and demands immediate payment via prepaid debit card or gift card. Some use the actual names of federal judges and real court addresses to sound convincing.10United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Jury Scam Warning
The signs are consistent. No court, state or federal, will call to demand a fine, ask for your Social Security number over the phone, or request payment by gift card. Every real jury summons arrives on paper through the U.S. Postal Service. Hang up on suspicious calls. You can verify a federal court summons by calling the clerk’s office at (603) 225-1423 and report scam attempts to the U.S. Marshals Service at (603) 225-1632.10United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Jury Scam Warning