Daily Reporting Message

As a general rule, you will only be asked to come to the courthouse once. If you are selected as a juror, then your service ends when the trial ends. If you are not selected as a juror, you may be required to report again.

Your summons states you need to call the Friday before your jury date. To confirm whether you need to report on that date call 1-800-582-9109 and enter your participant number and listen to the recorded message. The message about your reporting date will be posted by 6:00 p.m. on the Friday before your reporting date. You will need to report to the courthouse if you are told to report in the message. If you don't need to report, you may be given a date and time to check the message again. You may be "on call" for approximately 30 days. Once the recording says your released, you no longer need to check the message.

If you have a question, please call our jury section at (409) 766-3530 during normal business hours.

You may request to be exempted or excused from jury service or to have your juror service postponed. You must put your request in writing. You must appear unless you are notified that the Court has granted your request. Mail requests to: United States District Court, Attn: Jury Section, P.O. Drawer 2300, Galveston, Texas, 77553.

Excuses

The Court may excuse you from jury service if you are a:

• Person not employed outside the home having active care and custody of a child under the age of ten(10) whose health or safety would be jeopardized by their absence for jury service; or a person who is essential to the care of the aged or infirm person and who is not employed outside the home;
• Persons who have served as a grand or petit juror in federal court within the past two (2) years;
• Persons over seventy (70) years of age at the time the Jury Qualification Questionaire was submitted;
• Members of federal law enforcement agencies (i.e., agents for Postal, FBI, Customs, etc.);
• Members of volunteer safety organizations who work in an official capacity without compensation (i.e., fire fighters, rescue squads or ambulance crews);
• Others for whom the jury service would cause undue hardship.

Exemptions

Please notify the jury section if you are exempt from service. The exempt categories are:

• A member in active service of the armed services of the United States.
  
• A member of a fire or police department.
  
• An elected official actively engaged in the performance of official duties.
  
  

Postponements

The Court may postpone your jury service. Any request for postponement must show why the delay is unavoidable.

Report to the Clerk's Office, room number 411, on the 4th floor of the United States Post Office and Courthouse, 610 Rosenburg (25th Street).

Counties in the Galveston Division:

Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda

Yes, if you complete the form: certificate of attendance and expenses, and submit it at the end of your jury service. Federal law authorizes the following payments:

• $40.00 each day you come to the courthouse;
• 50.5 cents per mile mileage allowance based on the shortest practical route in going to and returning from the place of service;
• $136.00 subsistence rate for lodging may be allowed if a juror lives over fifty (50) miles from the courthouse, and an overnight stay in a hotel is required to attend court (a lodging receipt must be attached to support a claim for the maximum subsistence); and/or
• Miscellaneous expenses including road tolls, parking and public transportation.
  
  

You will be paid for your jury service once you complete the form: certificate of attendance and expenses, and submit it at the end of your jury service. A United States treasury check will be issued and you should receive it within about four weeks.