Wisconsin Jury Duty—What To Expect
Jury duty is an important element of our judicial system, but for an individual, it’s a major inconvenience. You’ll need to prepare for it, request days off if you’re employed, and spend as many days as necessary on a court case you’re not related to.
When you receive a summons, you’ll have to show up in court if you want to avoid penalties for skipping your civic duty. When it comes to penalties—and jury duty in general—federal courts have the same rules wherever you are, but state courts apply different laws.
In this article, we’ll explain how Wisconsin jury duty works and show you how you can to notify your employer and request leave effortlessly.
Who Is Eligible for Wisconsin Jury Duty?
Every year, the director of state courts creates a pool of potential jurors based on eligibility criteria established by Wisconsin law. The director uses the following lists to create their database:
- Registered voters
- Child support payors
- Wisconsin residents with issued licenses and approvals
- Income tax return filers
Once the director has a database, they’ll remove those people who don’t fulfill the following requirements:
- Having a U.S. citizenship
- Being 18 or older
- Understanding and speaking English
- Residing in the area served by the circuit court that issued a summons
- Having no felony convictions without restored civil rights
Wisconsin Jury Duty Exemptions
Wisconsin is one of the stricter states when it comes to jury duty exemptions. Wisconsin courts have no age limit excuses nor make any exceptions for medical workers, police officers, or soldiers.
You can still formally request to be excused on the basis of extreme inconvenience, hardship, disability, or health issues. The judge may accept your request, but they don’t form a statutory excuse.
If you don’t receive the judge’s approval and still fail to appear, you can be charged with a fine of up to $500 for contempt of court.
How To Serve Jury Duty in Wisconsin
Receiving a summons doesn’t automatically qualify you for a juror. You need to pass a selection process—if you don’t, your jury duty is over. To serve jury duty in Wisconsin, you need to:
- Show up in court dressed adequately on the day specified in the summons
- Answer lawyers’ questions to determine whether you can be a fair juror
- Appear every time the court is in session
- Reach an unbiased verdict
How Often Can You Be Called for Jury Duty in Wisconsin?
As software randomly selects names from a pool of potential jurors, you can keep getting called. That doesn’t mean that you need to show up every time. Once you serve on a jury, you don’t have to go again in the next four years.
How Much Wisconsin Jury Duty Pays
When on jury duty in Wisconsin, you’ll receive payment for your service. The amount you receive depends on the type of court you’re serving in. State courts pay $16 per day, while the federal courts pay is shown in the table below:
| Jury Duty Type | Initial Pay | After Ten Days | After 45 Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petit jury | $50 | $60 | $60 |
| Grand jury | $50 | $50 | $60 |
Use DoNotPay To Avoid the Hassle of Getting Time Off
Being employed isn’t a valid reason for missing jury duty in Wisconsin, but the law does protect you from suffering any consequences. If your employer doesn’t approve your leave request, demotes you, or fires you for going to court, you can sue them and get reinstated with retroactive pay.
If you formally request jury duty leave, your employer, after verifying you have jury duty, has no choice but to accept it and not punish you for it. You can submit a formal jury duty leave request letter to avoid any in-person conversations.
DoNotPay can help you draft a professional request letter in no time. You only need to:
- Navigate to the Request Jury Duty Leave product
- Answer a few questions
- Upload a photo of your jury summons
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