If you have received a Juror Summons Questionnaire (see sample) for petit jury, please read this section of the website carefully. Your juror packet that has been sent to you, informs you that you will be considered “on call” for a period of 3 or 6 months, depending on where you live. This does not mean that you will be required to serve for the entire time. You can expect to serve at least once during your tenure, and most trials are completed within a single week’s time. In addition, the court makes every effort to minimize the number of times you are asked to serve.

The date that your “on call” term begins is printed on the front side of the summons. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REPORT OR CALL ON THIS DATE. At this stage, it is necessary that you either submit your Juror Summons Questionnaire, along with any dates that you are unable to serve, online or return it to us in the self-addressed return envelope within 10 DAYS. If we do not receive your questionnaire within a certain amount of time, a second notice will be sent to you. Please note, that the court will honor all reasonable dates that you provide, in advance, to the court. If a conflict should arise after you have submitted your Questionnaire, please submit this information in writing to the Jury Office.

If you would like to request to be excused, please send a written request to the Jury Office. To obtain more information regarding the court's procedures for qualifications, exemptions, and requests to be excused click here: Juror Qualifications & Exemptions

DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF REQUESTS TO BE EXCUSED, ANY ADDITIONAL REQUESTS WILL NOT BE VIEWED BY THE COURT UNTIL YOU ARE GIVEN A DATE TO APPEAR. PLEASE BE PATIENT AT THIS TIME, THE COURT WILL ADDRESS ALL REQUESTS TO BE EXCUSED WHEN NECESSARY. Requests are reviewed by the Judge for the particular trial for which you have been asked to appear. There may be a chance that you are not called during this term, so it is not necessary to address any requests to be excused until you have been asked to report.

When you are needed for jury service, you will receive a “Notice to Report” letter indicating a specific date and time to appear and a panel number. This letter will be mailed approximately 14 days prior to the date of service. Upon receipt of this letter, it is necessary that you CONFIRM YOUR APPEARANCE by calling the Jury Office at
1-800-827-5879. It is important that you do this. The court needs to confirm a certain number of jurors for each trial. If you do not confirm your appearance, someone from the Jury Office will be contacting you. If you have already submitted a request to be excused, with your summons questionnaire, and would like it to be reviewed by the Judge, please call the Jury Office. If your hardship no longer exists, simply confirm your appearance. If you have not submitted a request to be excused, but would like to do so now, please submit your request by sending or faxing it to the Jury Office. Our fax number is (317) 229-3727.

FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST ALSO CALL AFTER 6:00 P.M. THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DATE YOU ARE GIVEN TO APPEAR TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE TO REPORT. This is important to do because the court’s schedule may change at any time.

Please check the Frequently Asked Questions page before you appear for service. It provides very useful information that will give you a better understanding of what to expect while serving for the federal court. We would like to thank you again for your valuable time and patience through this process and we look forward to seeing you.