The Indiana jury pool is the annual list of county residents from which courts randomly draw names for jury duty. Each county’s jury administrator builds it once a year using source lists approved by the Indiana Supreme Court, and every panel of prospective jurors comes out of that pool through a random draw.
Where the Names Come From
Indiana Jury Rule 2 requires each county’s jury administrator to compile a master pool once a year from approved source lists.1Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rule 2 – Jury Pool In practice those lists are voter registration records and Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles data, which together capture a broad cross-section of residents.2Indiana Judicial Branch. Serving Jury Duty The administrator has to strip duplicates so no one gets counted twice.
When a court needs jurors, names are randomly drawn from that annual pool. Prospective jurors cannot be pulled from bystanders, volunteers, or any other source outside the compiled pool.3Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 3, Random Draw The randomization rule exists so no one can hand-pick a favorable panel.
You serve in the county where you live, not where you work or own property. If you’ve moved out of the county, your name should eventually roll off that county’s list as the source records update.
Who Qualifies to Serve
Indiana Jury Rule 5 sets the eligibility criteria. After your name is drawn, you’ll receive a juror qualification form and have to confirm under oath that you meet every one of them:4Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 5, Disqualification
- U.S. citizen, regardless of immigration status otherwise.
- At least 18 years old.
- A resident of the county that summoned you.
- Able to read, speak, and understand English. Indiana’s rule explicitly includes reading, not just speaking and comprehension.
- No physical or mental condition that would prevent satisfactory service. Courts must consider reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act before disqualifying someone on this basis.
- Not under guardianship due to mental incapacity.
- Voting rights not currently revoked by a felony conviction. The disqualification tracks voting rights, not incarceration or supervision, so once your voting rights are restored you are eligible again.2Indiana Judicial Branch. Serving Jury Duty
- Not an active law enforcement officer in a criminal trial. Officers can still serve on civil juries.
If any one of these doesn’t apply to you, you’ll be disqualified from that panel.
Exemptions and Deferrals Are Different Things
Indiana draws a sharp line between exemptions, which excuse you entirely, and deferrals, which just move your service to a later date.
Exemptions
You can claim a full exemption in only two situations: you completed a term of jury service within the past 24 months, or a specific Indiana statute exempts you.5Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 6, Exemption The 24-month window catches a lot of people off guard because they assume prior service only covers them for a year. In Indiana it’s two.
Deferrals
If you’re not exempt but can’t serve on the assigned date, you can ask for a deferral. A judge or the judge’s designee can postpone your service for up to a year on a showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience, or necessity. Common reasons include serious medical conditions, caregiving responsibilities that can’t be covered by someone else, and financial hardship beyond the ordinary inconvenience of missing work. The facts you offer have to be recorded under oath, and the court keeps those records for at least two years.6Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 8, Documentation
A deferral is not a free pass. You’ll still serve within the rescheduled timeframe, and a medical deferral usually requires documentation from your physician.
What Arrives in the Mail
Within seven days after your name is drawn, the jury administrator mails you a juror qualification form and a notice telling you the window during which you might have to serve. The actual summons to appear can come one of two ways under local rules:7Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 4, Notice of Selection
- Single-tier: the qualification form and summons arrive together, at least six weeks before your service date.
- Two-tier: the qualification form comes first, and the summons follows separately, at least one week before you’re needed.
The summons has to include practical information: directions to the courthouse, parking, public transit, compensation rates, dress expectations, meal information, the court’s policy on cell phones and other electronic devices, and how to request ADA accommodations.
Many Indiana counties now let you respond to your qualification form online or by phone using a juror ID and password. Courts that use those systems still have to let anyone unable or unwilling to use them complete their forms by contacting the jury administrator directly.
What Happens at the Courthouse
Once prospective jurors show up, the real filtering begins through voir dire. Indiana Trial Rule 47 governs it: the parties and their attorneys question the panel, and the court may also examine jurors itself.8Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Trial Rule 47 – Jurors and Peremptory Challenges The judge can put time limits on questioning but has to grant more time when the complexity of the case calls for it. Questions can be blocked if they’re repetitive or argumentative, but reasonable inquiry of both the full panel and individual jurors has to be allowed.
Two kinds of strikes remove jurors from the panel. A challenge for cause is used when an attorney can show a specific reason a juror wouldn’t be impartial, such as knowing a party, having a financial stake in the outcome, or holding a fixed opinion about the type of case. There is no cap on for-cause challenges, but each has to satisfy the judge.
Peremptory challenges let an attorney strike a juror without giving a reason, but they’re capped. In criminal cases, Indiana Jury Rule 18 sets the numbers by charge severity: 20 per side in death penalty or life-without-parole cases, 10 per side for murder and Level 1 through Level 5 felonies, and 5 per side for all other criminal charges.9Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rule 18 – Number of Peremptory Challenges Civil cases give each side three.8Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Trial Rule 47 – Jurors and Peremptory Challenges Both criminal and civil trials add one extra challenge per side for every two alternate jurors seated. Peremptory strikes cannot be used to systematically exclude jurors based on race.10Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Batson v Kentucky, 476 US 79 (1986)
Your term as a petit juror ends when the first trial you’re sworn onto concludes. If you go through selection but aren’t chosen, you won’t be put on another panel during that term.11Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 9, Term of Jury Service Most jurors aren’t stuck at the courthouse for weeks.
Pay and Job Protection
Indiana updated its juror pay in 2023. You receive $30 per day during the selection phase before the jury is seated, $80 per day for the first five days of trial, and $90 per day starting on the sixth day until the jury is discharged.12Indiana Judicial Branch. Juror Compensation You also get mileage reimbursement at the same rate paid to state officers for travel to and from the courthouse. Jury pay is taxable income; the mileage reimbursement is not.
Your employer cannot take adverse action against you for serving, as long as you gave reasonable notice after receiving the summons and before reporting.13Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24.3 – Adverse Employment Action Your employer also can’t force you to use vacation, annual leave, or sick time to cover jury duty. The protection covers the whole process: responding to the summons, going through selection, and serving.
There’s a small-business accommodation worth knowing. If your employer has ten or fewer full-time employees and a coworker is already serving, either of you can notify the court and it will reschedule so both employees aren’t out at once. Most people don’t hear about this provision until it’s too late to use it.
If You Ignore the Summons
Skipping jury duty is a real risk, not a paperwork nuisance. Under Indiana Code 33-28-5-24, anyone summoned who fails to appear or complete service as directed is subject to criminal contempt.14Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24 – Failure to Comply With Summons That can mean fines, and in serious cases, jail time at the judge’s discretion.
In practice, courts usually issue a failure-to-appear notice before escalating, and a first-time no-show who responds promptly and reschedules tends to be treated less harshly than someone who repeatedly ignores the court. The statute gives judges wide authority, though, so if you genuinely can’t appear on your date, request a deferral in advance rather than not showing up.