If you are age 70 or older or are a woman breast-feeding a child and you ask to be excused, the Court must excuse you from service. Please make the request on the Juror Response Form that you received with your summons, and you will be excused from jury service. The Circuit Court may also excuse you if:
- jury service causes you, your family, or your employer undue hardship or extreme inconvenience; or,
- you are the sole caregiver for a child or other dependent, personally attend to the dependent during the Court's normal hours, and are unable to afford daycare or make other arrangements for the care of the dependent.
The Court will weigh the basis for your excuse against its need for jurors. You must show good cause to the Court why you should be excused under these standards. The Court may deny a request for excuse under (a) or (b) above and require you to serve or defer your jury duty to a later date.
If you no longer live in Columbia County, are not a citizen of the United States, or are under the age of 18, you do not qualify to serve as a juror. Contact the jury coordinator in writing, and you will be excused from jury service. You will receive a postcard notifying you of the Court's decision.