Some people look forward to jury duty, while others would rather find a way out of it as soon as possible. The only way to be excused from jury duty is to write an excuse letter to the court and wait for a response. Sometimes the courts will accept an excuse letter, and other times you can be told to show up to court on time or suffer the consequences. It all starts with a good jury duty excuse letter, which is not as difficult to write as you think.
The Reason For Your Excuse
The first thing you need to do is determine the reason for asking to be excused for jury duty. Most jury summons come with instructions on how to ask to be excused, and that includes a list of reasons why you could be excused. These lists are typically standard templates, but some cases have special exceptions you will want to pay attention to.
If you intend to ask to be excused because of your job or a medical procedure you have scheduled, then you will need to include a letter from your boss or doctor explaining the situation. Remember to keep copies of everything involving your excuse letter including the summons and letters of proof you submitted.
Note The Rules For Exemptions
Each summons will have specific rules for filing for an exemption that you will have to follow. Important information includes the exact address for mailing out your excuse letter, the contact person or mail stop it is to be addressed to, and the deadline by which your letter must arrive to be considered. If you miss your deadline or mail your letter to the wrong address, you run the risk of not being excused.
Find The Right Format
Your jury summons might include a link to a template the court wants you to use for your excuse letter. You must use this template for your letter to be considered. If there is no template suggested by the court, then you can look online for a generic excuse letter template and use that instead.
Your Own Format
If you cannot find a format you like and there is no recommended format, then you can create your own format. An excuse letter is simply a business letter that uses standard business letter format. Your first paragraph describes who you are using your name, summons number, and case number from the summons.
The next paragraph outlines concisely the reason why you need to be excused from jury duty. The final paragraph officially asks to be excused from jury duty and includes all of your contact information at the end. You should indicate the method by which you prefer to be contacted. While most courts will mail you a letter, you should offer your phone number or email address as another option.
Always proofread your excuse letter before sending it, and ask someone else to proofread it for you as well. Do not delay in sending out your letter, and be sure to keep a copy of the letter in a file with all of the other information pertaining to your summons.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!