If you missed jury duty in California, call your county’s Jury Commissioner as soon as you can and ask to reschedule. Most courts give you a second chance before any penalty attaches, and reaching out on your own, before the court sends a formal notice, almost always closes the matter with a new service date and nothing else. Ignore it, and the process escalates through written notices, a court hearing, fines up to $1,500, and in rare cases jail time for contempt.
Call the Jury Commissioner Before the Court Contacts You
Speed is the single biggest factor in how this ends. Find your original summons; it has your juror ID number and the Jury Commissioner’s phone number. If the summons is gone, call your county superior court and ask for jury services. Many counties also run an online juror portal where you can look up your record.1Judicial Branch of California. Jury Service
When you get through, say plainly that you missed your date and ask for a new one. Court staff take these calls constantly. They are generally willing to reschedule people who reach out on their own, and if you call before any failure-to-appear notice goes out, the matter is often closed with a simple reset.
What the Court Will Send You If You Do Nothing
Courts don’t jump straight to penalties. The process gives you two more chances to engage, and knowing where you are in that sequence tells you how urgent your next move is.
The Failure-to-Appear Notice
The first thing you’ll get in the mail is a failure-to-appear notice. It assigns you a new reporting date and warns what happens if you skip that one too. Some courts also send a less formal “Come See the Judge” letter, which invites you to an informal hearing where you can arrange a service date or explain why you can’t serve. That hearing is not a sanctions proceeding.2Judicial Council of California. Failure to Appear Toolkit – Increasing Jury Service Participation Respond at this stage and you’ll usually avoid any penalty.
The Order to Show Cause
Ignore the failure-to-appear notice and the court issues an Order to Show Cause. This is a formal court order requiring you to appear before a judge and explain why you shouldn’t be sanctioned or held in contempt. If you skip this hearing too, the judge can impose penalties in your absence.2Judicial Council of California. Failure to Appear Toolkit – Increasing Jury Service Participation Some courts send a sheriff’s deputy to deliver the order at your home or workplace.
Fines and Jail Time You Could Face
California gives judges two separate tools for no-shows. The more common one is monetary sanctions under the Code of Civil Procedure, tiered by how many times you’ve failed to appear: up to $250 for a first violation, up to $750 for a second, and up to $1,500 for a third or any later violation.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 209 A judge can impose these without a full contempt proceeding, which is why they’re the usual starting point.
The second tool is a formal contempt of court finding. A judge who holds you in contempt can impose a fine of up to $1,000, jail time of up to five days, or both.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1218 Contempt is reserved for the more serious situations, like ignoring multiple notices or failing to show up for a court hearing about your absence. In practice, courts start with sanctions and escalate only when someone repeatedly refuses to engage.
How to Handle an Order to Show Cause Hearing
If you’ve already received an Order to Show Cause, your first job is simple: show up on the assigned date. Skipping the hearing is the fastest route to a fine or contempt finding.
Your goal at the hearing is to give the judge a legitimate reason for missing your date. Bring documentation. A doctor’s note or hospital records for a medical issue, a mechanic’s invoice for a car breakdown, proof of a family emergency, or travel records showing you were out of the area all help. The judge isn’t looking for a perfect excuse. They’re trying to tell the difference between willful disregard and a genuine reason.
California’s Rules of Court set out specific hardship categories that qualify someone to be excused from service entirely. These include having no reasonable way to get to the courthouse, a commute of more than ninety minutes each way, extreme financial hardship for your household, or a physical or mental disability that would put you at risk. If you served on any jury within the previous twelve months, you’re entitled to be excused automatically on request.5Judicial Branch of California. Rule 2.1008 – Excuses From Jury Service
If the judge accepts your explanation, the typical outcome is dismissal of the potential sanctions and a chance to reschedule. Even when a judge isn’t fully convinced, appearing in person and engaging respectfully still goes a long way.
Postponing or Being Excused Instead
Whether you’re trying to head off a missed date or working out a new one after the fact, California courts let you request a postponement through the directions on your summons. Most counties handle this through an online portal in a few minutes.1Judicial Branch of California. Jury Service
You’ll be asked for the earliest date you can serve. Standard postponements are usually granted for up to 90 days from the original summons date. Students and teachers can often be rescheduled to the next school break. Breastfeeding mothers can request a postponement of up to one year. If you’re sick or injured, you can ask for either a postponement or a full excuse depending on how serious the condition is.
Postponement is not an exemption. You still have to serve, just on a different date. It is, however, the cleanest way to stay out of the failure-to-appear process entirely.
Your Job Is Protected If You Serve
Fear of losing a job is one of the main reasons people skip jury duty, so it’s worth being clear on this. California law prohibits your employer from firing you, demoting you, suspending you, or discriminating against you in any way for taking time off to serve on a jury, as long as you give reasonable notice that you’ve been summoned.6California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230
If an employer retaliates anyway, you’re entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and benefits. An employer who willfully refuses to rehire or restore an employee after a jury-related dispute can be charged with a misdemeanor.6California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230
Neither California nor federal law requires private employers to pay your regular wages during jury service. Some do voluntarily, and some union contracts require it, but there’s no mandate. Government employees and certain other workers may have different arrangements under their employment terms. Your paycheck may take a temporary hit, but your job itself is legally safe, which removes one of the main reasons people avoid rescheduling instead of just getting it done.