Jury Duty in Visalia: Summons, Pay, and Selection

If you’ve been summoned for jury duty in Visalia, you’ll report to the Tulare County Superior Court at 221 South Mooney Boulevard under California’s “one day or one trial” rule: if you aren’t seated on a trial during your first day, your service is complete. Compensation starts on day two, your employer can’t retaliate for your absence, and the court can impose real fines if you ignore the summons. The details below cover what to do before, on, and after your report date.

Who Qualifies to Serve

California requires jurors to be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, residents of Tulare County, and able to communicate in English.¹

You’re disqualified if you’re already serving on another grand or trial jury in California, if you’re on parole, post-release community supervision, felony probation, or mandated supervision for a felony conviction, if you were convicted of malfeasance in office and your civil rights have not been restored, or if you’re required to register as a sex offender based on a felony conviction.¹

Responding to Your Summons

The summons includes a response form. Submit it before your report date, either through the court’s online portal using the badge number printed on your summons or by mailing the form back to the Jury Division.²

The court will consider financial hardship, medical conditions, and caregiving responsibilities when deciding whether to excuse or postpone you. Medical excuses typically require documentation from a licensed physician. If the court rejects your reason, you still need to appear on the date printed on the summons.³

Residents 70 and Older

California lets anyone 70 or older request a permanent excuse from jury service. It isn’t automatic. You need to note your age on the response form and ask to be excused.

Active-Duty Military

Active-duty members of the armed forces and National Guard are exempt from federal jury service.⁴ California state courts follow a similar approach. If a summons reaches you while you’re deployed or on orders, contact Jury Services to arrange an excuse or deferral.

Reporting Day at the Courthouse

Go to 221 South Mooney Boulevard and check in at the Jury Assembly Room, Room 202. Bring your summons; the court’s reporting instructions specifically remind jurors not to forget it.⁵ Give yourself 15 to 20 minutes to clear security and find parking.

Parking

Your summons comes with a removable parking permit. Put it on your dashboard before you leave the car. Jurors can use designated juror spaces or any three-hour parking spot near the courthouse as long as the permit is visible. Without it, you can be ticketed.⁶

Security and Dress Code

Everyone passes through metal detectors at the entrance. Leave pocketknives, tools, and anything else that could be read as a weapon at home or locked in your car; prohibited items are confiscated at screening. If you have a pacemaker, metal implant, or similar device, tell the officer before stepping through so they can screen you another way.

Dress for a formal setting. Business casual works. Skip tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops.

Jury Selection and How Long You’ll Serve

After check-in you wait in the assembly room until a judge calls for a panel. If your name comes up, you move to a courtroom for voir dire, where the judge and attorneys ask questions designed to surface bias. Before any questions are asked you’ll be placed under a perjury admonishment and sworn to answer truthfully. Lying is a criminal offense.⁷

Your obligation ends when any of three things happens: you sit through a full trial, you go through selection in at least one courtroom and aren’t picked, or you report for the day and never get sent to a courtroom.⁸ If you’re seated on a trial, you stay until the verdict or until deliberations end.⁹

Pay, Mileage, and Your Job

California pays jurors $15 per day plus $0.34 per mile for travel to and from the courthouse. Both begin on the second day of service; the first day is unpaid. Government employees who keep receiving their regular salary during service don’t get the daily fee.¹⁰

Your employer cannot fire you, demote you, or retaliate against you for serving, as long as you give reasonable notice before your service starts.¹¹ The law does not require your employer to pay you during jury service. Some do anyway. Check your employee handbook or ask HR before your report date so you aren’t surprised.

What Happens if You Don’t Show Up

Ignoring a summons has consequences. Under the sanctions track, the court can issue a second summons at least 90 days after the first failure to appear, then a failure-to-appear notice, and finally an order to show cause requiring you to come in and explain yourself to a judge. Fines escalate with each violation:

First violation: up to $250
Second violation: up to $750
Third and beyond: up to $1,500

Paying a fine doesn’t erase the service obligation. You still owe the county your time.¹²

The court can also bypass that track entirely and hold a no-show in contempt, which carries both fines and the possibility of jail. Courts generally treat penalties as a last resort, but the authority is real and some judges use it.¹²

Requesting a Disability Accommodation

If a disability affects your ability to reach the courthouse, sit through proceedings, or participate in deliberations, the Tulare County Superior Court is required to provide reasonable accommodations. Contact the ADA Coordinator at least five days before your report date by email at ada.coordinator@tulare.courts.ca.gov or by phone at (559) 734-5425. A formal request form (MC-410) is available at the courthouse.¹³

Available accommodations include sign language interpreters, large-print documents, service animals, shortened trial days, additional breaks, and remote participation by phone or video. A late request, even one made the day before service, doesn’t automatically disqualify you; the court must still make reasonable efforts to accommodate.¹³

Spotting a Jury Duty Scam

Scammers call and email residents claiming to be court officials or law enforcement, threatening arrest or fines for missed jury duty. They push for Social Security numbers, bank or credit card information, or payment by gift card or cryptocurrency. All of it is fraud.¹⁴

Real courts never request bank or credit card details over the phone and never ask for gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers. Initial summonses always arrive by mail. If a call feels off, hang up and verify directly with Tulare County Jury Services at (559) 730-5100 or webjury@tulare.courts.ca.gov.¹⁵

1
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 203 – Trial Jury Selection and Management Act
2
Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. Jury Duty Postponement
3
Superior Court of California. Superior Court of California County of Tulare – Jury Policies
4
United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses
5
Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. Jury Reporting Instructions
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Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. Jury Status
7
Judicial Branch of California. About the Trial Process – Section: 1 Selection of a Jury
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Judicial Branch of California. Rule 2.1002 Length of Juror Service
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Superior Court of California. Jury Employer Info
10
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 215
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California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230 – Employer Prohibitions Regarding Jury Duty and Victim Leave
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 209
13
Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. ADA Information
14
Judicial Branch of California. Jury Scam Alert
15
Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. Jury Duty