Welcome to Jury Service

Jurors are on call for two weeks (10 consecutive court days beginning the first day you are on call). This court is a “one appearance, or one trial” court. You will be required to make only one appearance in court for jury selections held that day, or serve for one trial (jury selection may take more than one day). If you are not selected as a juror when you report, your service will be over once the jury selection process is complete. If you are selected to serve on a trial, you must serve the length of the trial; when the trial is over, your service is complete.

You must check for reporting instructions the day before your first scheduled reporting date to find out if or when you are required to appear. If you are not required to appear that first day, the message will tell you when to call again. You must continue calling for instructions until the message says your service is over.

Names for potential jurors are randomly drawn from voter registration lists obtained from the Secretary of State of California and from lists of driver’s license/identification cards obtained from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

The boundaries of the Northern District of California include the following 15 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma. If you live in any of these counties, you are subject to jury service in one of the court’s four locations: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose or Eureka. Once you are summoned to one location, your service cannot be transferred to any other location.

Many requests for excuse – and any excuses related to financial hardship – may only be granted by a judge. You may be excused from service on request if you:

1. Are 75 years of age or older;
2. Have reported to court for jury service in the past 12 months. You must have been present in court for at least one day and must provide a certificate of attendance from the other court showing the date(s) you were present;
3. Are solely responsible for the care of a preschool child or an aged or infirm person and you are not employed outside the home;

You may also be considered for an excuse if you:

1. Reside more than 80 miles from the courthouse to which you are summoned;
2. Serve as a volunteer firefighter or member of a volunteer rescue squad or ambulance crew.
3. Will suffer severe hardship. You must provide evidence available to support your claim. If a medical hardship, you must submit a letter from your medical provider.

The Court does not typically exclude nursing mothers from service, and instead accommodates their needs and privacy during jury service.

If your trip to the courthouse would be inconveniently long, you may be eligible to stay at a hotel near the courthouse with court reimbursement, along with payment for meals and incidental expenses, so long as you obtain prior authorization from the jury office. Please call 415-522-2171 for more information.

You may postpone your jury service one time for up to six months, and your request must be submitted at least 2-weeks before the start of your on-call period. You may request postponement of your jury service online after submitting your online questionnaire, or by emailing the jury office. When you request a postponement, please be prepared to identify a two-week period within the next six months to which your service can be postponed.