I just got a letter from the State of Hawaii Jury Pool Office. I have to report for jury duty 2 weeks before Christmas Eve. I'll only be paid for quite less than what I'm use to seeing from my real job's pay check. I don't know if my job would compensated me for serving a public duty. But I'll ask any way. If not, then I might be financially strapped to pay for bills and Christmas gifts. Suddenly I feel the shaft of Jack Frost.

Most employers will cover the difference. Back when I worked for a government contractor I did jury duty one time. I was taken out by the plaintiff's attorney during voir dire, jury duty complete, all of 15 minutes. Once I went independent and there would be no paycheck if I stopped to do jury duty, I got out of it due to financial hardship. Don't know how HI laws are regarding jury duty, employer compensation and financial hardship.

In the States (Hawaii NOT excluded of course, but it is not part of the mainland), employers must continue your paycheck. I think anyway, don;t hold me to that. There may be some exemptions that I'm unaware of.

Jury duty is not only a "duty", it's interesting and fun. If you're really adverse to serving, you might get lucky and not even get picked out of the pool. Or...you may get picked for a case and the Defendant will plead before it goes to trial. You could even get picked for a civil case - they can be interesting too. Sometimes not getting picked puts you back into the pool, but many people called for jury duty never even serve. If you're concerned about the Holiday, don;t worry.....Governments take the Holiday off, and usually several days before and after.

My profession is federal law enforcement and you might think I wouldn;t like jury duty because it would be boring or something. Not so. I enjoy it. My best duty ever was serving on the Grand Jury (NM State) 2 years ago for 3 months. I loved it!

When I was in San Diego, I served on a civil case. Short story: A bicycle rider was attacked in the street by a dog. He beat the dog with the bicycle pump. The dog's owner came out and a fight started. THe owner wanted compensation for injuries to his dog and some other stuff. We found for the bike rider in this case.

If you never served before, I recommend *hoping* you'll get picked. My guess is you'll have fond memories of it later on down the road.

Most employees will not dock your pay. I had one once who deducted the $9 a day from my check. Since I am now an owner I pay myself. Since 2000 I've been called 4 times. Once I was dismissed because I knew the defendants. Twice I lucked out and didn't get picked. The one time I served it was for a case of a brutal armed robbery. Trial lasted 4 days. Two defendants; the first we found guilty in about 2 minutes. The second one we deadlocked on for 7 hours. This was in July and all but one person wanted not guilty on the second guy. Mostly based on their desire to go on vacation. Finally convinced the holdout (me) to let the guy off. (Seen the movie 'Nine Angry Women'?) Got done at midnight; the balif said we set a record for latest deliberation.

It is interesting and very serious business (at least to me) but one thing is true, no one tells the truth, at least not the whole truth.

I asked a family member that is a payroll clerk for our local county government, and she said that on your Jury Duty card, there will be a person and their number for you to call with questions, usually called a "Jury Commission Secretary". Since it varies from state to state, they will be the one to ask about your local rules.

In our state, your employer must pay you your normal salary, but then you have to refund to them whatever you were paid for Jury Duty.

PS, if you get called for Jury Duty, get ready and read up! www.fija.org

can't you duck out of jury duty? Can't you give them an excuse?

Just curious about what compensasion you get if you're in a service profession (waiter, waitress) or an independent contractor, or run your own business?

Many people try to get out of jury duty, and succeed.

But, ask yourself: if I were the defendant, would I want 'real' people in the jury, or just the dregs?

And I strongly second the advice to contact the Fully Informed Jury Association. They have some really interesting information for free. What you see on TV is not the real deal, and there are quite a few common 'misconceptions' about being on a jury.

Sue

here in ventura county, california, i got $15 per day and 34¢ per mile, one way from the home to the courthouse beginning on day two and for any additional days of service.

i run my own business. was able to do it. cellphone paid off.

here you can sit in the jury pool room for 8 hrs and if not called, game over. or be "on call" for five days - checking in nightly for the following day.

i have always done my one day - reading, visiting, catching up on bills, etc.


bsmith

"...We found for the bike rider in this case..."

Good for you. Was the dog a pit bull???