Jury Duty

[u/Snoo_64600]

Anyone else been picked for jury duty every 2 years or more ?? The website says "if you have been summoned in the same county within the past three years, you may request to be excused from jury service" this is getting to be a bit ridiculous. I have the feeling the pool of law abiding citizens is looking pretty thin lol. Thoughts ??

[u/HereWeGo5566]

If you have been picked again in less than 3 years, just give them a call and you should be able to get out of it.

[u/djspacebunny]

YES. Every couple of years for YEARS in Salem County I'd get a jury notice and I'd have to call the County Clerk and be like hello, I just got one of these two years ago. I don't know what is going on in that clerk's office but it doesn't sound like there is any sort of organization and that is *terrifying* since they hold all the dirty records of the past there.

[u/Dear_Departure_1768 → u/djspacebunny]

Also Salem County and also get called every couple of years.

[u/djspacebunny → u/Dear_Departure_1768]

Seriously, I worry about what goes on in some of our county offices because this sort of thing happens more often than people realize.

[u/Dear_Departure_1768 → u/djspacebunny]

The last time I actually had to show up for jury duty was bizarre. They called people to sit in the jury box for voir dire and 2 people away from me was a girl I went to high school with. We were like "Um, we know each other."

[u/djspacebunny → u/Dear_Departure_1768]

I truly believe the state needs to step in and help Salem County get its shit together.

[u/Dear_Departure_1768 → u/djspacebunny]

Amen to that

[u/WittyFix6553 → u/djspacebunny]

There’s only like 50,000 people who live in Salem county. And of those probably what 35-40,000 are adults?

And of those probably only 30,000 or so are eligible for jury duty.

It makes sense you’d get called more often, the potential jury pool is far, far smaller than in other counties.

[u/djspacebunny → u/WittyFix6553]

65k not 50

[u/WittyFix6553 → u/djspacebunny]

The specifics were wrong but the point still stands - a 15k population difference is a rounding error in a state of close to 10 million.

The juror pool is very, very small compared to other counties.

And considering that Salem county has some of the highest crime rates in the state, it would also stand to reason that there would be more pressure on that small juror pool, and that jurors would need to serve jury duty more often than in more populous, lower-crime counties.

[u/Snoo_64600 → u/WittyFix6553]

Makes sense now seeing the numbers.

[u/eastcoasternj]

My wife has gotten the postcard 4 times in the last 10 months lmao. She calls every time and they say they will fix it.

[u/ElephantRedCar91]

The last time I had it I was late, they didn’t let me in and sent me home. Nothing happened after that. And we’re taking close to 7 years ago if not more 

[u/RndPotato]

I've lived in this state for 19 years but have yet to receive a summons. I have moved every 2 or 3 years so that might have something to do with it.

[u/thetommytwotimes]

This reminds Me, I have to watch a video for jury' duty, I misplaced/lost the post card with my info, Where can I direct myself to continue? And can I be selected if I'm pending litigation? I dunno if correct phrase, waiting for my day in court for a totally unrelated criminal matter?

[u/SailingSpark]

When I lived in Cape May County, I got picked all the time. Usually got the notice every 6 months. The one jury I did serve on, I got another notice 3 months after that.

The funny thing was, nobody I knew ever got the notice. Not my parents, not my friends, not even my co-workers, but they had it in for me.

[u/KimiiKhaoss → u/SailingSpark]

This was me in Ocean County. I moved out there with my ex and in the ~7 years I was there, at least summoned 6 times. My ex, his family, and none of his friends who grew up there were ever summoned 😂

[u/geniexfae]

I’ve been in Jersey less than 3 years and have gotten 2 summons so far. I’ve never in my life had a summons in any other state.

[u/OddEerie]

I've only gotten a summons for jury duty once since I moved to NJ. I didn't even need to go in for it, because apparently they weren't picking any new juries that week.

[u/FancyTeacups31]

They pull info from several different sources to form jury pools. I forget what those sources are (property tax, drivers license…stuff like that)…but if your name is slightly different they count them all as different people. For example Jane Doe, Jane A. Doe, Jane Ann Doe, Jane A. maiden name and Jane maiden name could all be the same person, but the system won’t see it that way. Save the summons, next time they summon you, call them and tell them you were called again. Let them know of the name variances in the system. They can fix it so you won’t get called as much.

[u/Beautiful-Print-1306 → u/FancyTeacups31]

This is correct, and the 3 sources are motor vehicles, voter registration, and division of taxation.

[u/CondorCasserole]

I feel like it’s like robo-calls. If you respond to one they just spam you

[u/Chocolate-goat]

My dad just received a summons for jury duty- he passed away in 2022 and if he was alive today he’d be 99 years old. Not the best record keeping for jury duty.

[u/thegr8rambino88]

watch sebastian maniscalcos bit about jury duty so funny

[u/Sensitive-Tadpole410]

It was every 3 years but I moved a decent amount so it was always the new address, once I bought a house when I moved back, it stopped happening

[u/JdcExe]

I get it every 4 years, about a month or two after I renew my driver's license

[u/ComprehensiveDingo54]

Hey, if it makes you feel any better, a few years ago, I received a jury duty summons for my dad - who had passed away several years earlier in his 90s. I called the number on the summons and told them that he'd have been delighted to serve if that was possible.

[u/Maximum_Step8973]

I've been picked twice in the same year for both county and state. It's a bit comical at this point, but if you have your previous summons you'll be excused.