If you’ve been summoned for jury duty in Indiana, you’re legally required to appear unless one of five statutory disqualifications applies to you or you use your one guaranteed deferral to reschedule. Show up and you’ll be paid between $30 and $90 per day depending on where you are in the process, your employer can’t punish you for going, and ignoring the summons can lead to a criminal contempt charge. The rules that matter most sit in Indiana Code Title 33, Article 28, Chapter 5, and a few of them changed as recently as July 2023.
Who Has to Serve
Indiana disqualifies you from jury service only if one of these five things is true. Under Indiana Code 33-28-5-18, you don’t serve if you:
- Are not a U.S. citizen, at least 18, and a resident of the county that summoned you.
- Cannot read, speak, and understand English well enough to fill out a juror qualification form.
- Have a physical or mental disability that prevents you from serving. The court can ask for a physician’s certificate.
- Have a court-appointed guardian because of mental incapacity.
- Lost your right to vote because of a felony conviction and haven’t had it restored.
That’s the whole list. Indiana state courts do not automatically excuse police officers, firefighters, or elected officials the way federal courts do. There is one age-based exit: anyone 75 or older can notify the jury administrator and opt out permanently.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-18 – Disqualification or Excuse From Jury Service
Rescheduling: You Get One Deferral
Every prospective juror in Indiana is entitled to one deferral. You don’t need to convince a judge, but you do need to meet the statute’s requirements: hardship, extreme inconvenience, or necessity. The new date has to fall within a year of your original summons and on a day the court is in session.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-18 – Disqualification or Excuse From Jury Service
Contact the jury administrator by phone, email, mail, or in person, and choose your new date when you make the request. The court then decides whether your reason qualifies. Medical issues, caregiving obligations, prepaid travel, and serious work conflicts are the usual grounds. A medical hardship request typically needs a physician’s statement saying jury service would threaten your health.
Pick your rescheduled date carefully. Second deferrals aren’t built into the statute, so if you’re summoned again after your one bite at rescheduling, you’ll need to appear.
What the Day Actually Looks Like
When you arrive, you go through voir dire. That’s the questioning phase where the judge and the attorneys for both sides try to figure out whether you can be fair to the parties in the specific case being tried. Indiana Trial Rule 47 lets the attorneys ask you questions directly, subject to time limits the judge can set.2Indiana Court Rules. Rule 47 – Jurors and Peremptory Challenges
Each side can strike prospective jurors for cause (with a stated reason the judge accepts) or peremptorily (no reason needed, three strikes per side, with one or two additional strikes for alternates). Peremptory strikes cannot be used to remove jurors based on race, gender, or other protected characteristics.2Indiana Court Rules. Rule 47 – Jurors and Peremptory Challenges Civil juries in Indiana seat six people.
Indiana runs a “one trial” system. If you get sworn in, you serve through the end of that trial no matter how long it lasts. If you go through selection and don’t get picked, your obligation ends when selection wraps for the day, and you won’t be called again until every other eligible person in the county pool has been summoned.3Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Jury Rules – Rule 9, Term of Jury Service One caveat: on the day you report, you’re available for any court in the county, so a second judge could pull from the same pool if the first one doesn’t pick you. Once the day ends without you being sworn in, though, you’re done.
What You’ll Be Paid
Indiana raised its juror pay rates on July 1, 2023. Current daily rates are:
- $30 during selection, before you’re sworn in.
- $80 for each of the first five trial days after you’re sworn in.
- $90 starting on the sixth trial day through discharge.
The old flat rate was $15 per day.4Indiana Courts. Juror Compensation – Legislative Update Even at the new numbers, jury pay won’t cover a lost day of full-time wages for most people, which is why the employer rules below matter.
Your Job While You Serve
Indiana law prohibits your employer from taking any adverse action against you because of jury service. That covers firing, demotion, punitive schedule changes, threats, and other forms of retaliation. The protection applies as long as you tell your employer within a reasonable time after receiving the summons and before you report.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24.3 – Adverse Employment Action as the Result of Jury Service
Indiana does not require your employer to pay you while you serve. Some employers pay full or partial wages voluntarily, and some offset your juror fees against your paycheck. Check your handbook or ask HR before your service date so the financial picture isn’t a surprise.
If you work for a business with 10 or fewer full-time employees and a coworker is already serving on a jury, the court must reschedule your service so the two of you don’t overlap. Either you or the coworker who’s already serving needs to notify the court.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24.3 – Adverse Employment Action as the Result of Jury Service
What Seated Jurors Can and Can’t Do
Once you’re on a jury, the rules are strict but sensible. Show up on time every day the trial is in session. Follow the judge’s instructions on the law. Don’t discuss the case with anyone outside the jury room, including family, coworkers, and social media contacts.
The rule that trips people up most often is the one against outside information. No searching the defendant, no reading news coverage of the trial, no scrolling posts about it. A verdict tainted by outside evidence the other side couldn’t test in court can be thrown out entirely. In criminal cases, verdicts must be unanimous.
What Happens If You Skip
Indiana Code 33-28-5-24 makes failure to appear for or complete jury service as directed subject to criminal contempt.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24 – Failure to Comply With Summons Criminal contempt can carry fines and jail time, with the specific penalty at the judge’s discretion.
Courts tend to distinguish between people who genuinely forgot or had an emergency and those who deliberately blew off the summons. If you miss your date, call the jury administrator immediately. Judges are far more lenient with people who reach out first than with people who wait to be brought in.
Watch Out for Jury Duty Scams
Scammers regularly target Indiana residents by claiming they missed jury duty. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana has warned about fraudulent emails and phone calls threatening arrest, often from someone posing as a “federal agent” who offers to let you pay a fine on the spot, usually by prepaid debit card.7United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Jury Duty Scam Alert
No court will call or email you to demand payment for missing jury duty. Courts do not ask for your Social Security number over the phone. Legitimate summonses come by mail. If you actually miss jury duty, the clerk’s office contacts you, and in serious cases a judge takes it up in open court where you get to explain yourself. Anyone demanding money by phone or email is running a scam.7United States District Court Northern District of Indiana. Jury Duty Scam Alert
Federal Jury Duty Is a Separate System
If your summons came from a federal court, none of the state rules above apply directly. Indiana has two federal judicial districts, and federal jury service runs on its own eligibility rules, exemptions, and pay scale. Federal jurors must be U.S. citizens at least 18 who have lived primarily in the district for at least a year, can read, write, speak, and understand English, and are not currently facing felony charges or carrying an unrestored felony conviction. Federal courts exempt some groups Indiana state courts don’t, including active-duty military, professional police and fire personnel, and full-time public officers.8United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses Federal pay is $50 per day, rising to $60 after 10 days, with transportation, parking, and (when overnight stays are required) meals and lodging reimbursed. You cannot be required to serve federal jury duty more than once every two years.