Here’s what you need to know if you are summoned for jury duty in Kansas or Missouri
Thousands of United States citizens are called to serve on juries daily to listen to testimony, review evidence and make decisions in civil and criminal trials.
Depending on where you live in the Kansas City area, residents can expect to serve as little as three days on a trial jury, which decides criminal and civil cases, or as long as six months on a grand jury, where they assess the evidence presented by a prosecutor to determine whether someone should be put on trial.
If you are summoned for jury duty, here’s what you need to know about serving in Kansas and Missouri.
How am I summoned for jury duty?
Residents are summoned for jury duty at random in both states.
Kansans are selected from voter registration records and driver’s and non-driver’s license lists. When a jury panel is needed, the wheel or computer is used to select a number of names at random.
Juror summonses are then sent to those persons whose names are drawn, and they may be called into court to serve on a trial jury.
Missouri selects jurors from the Department of Revenue driver’s license records, non-driver’s license records and from voter registration rolls. Some counties in the state use other lists such as personal property tax rolls.
Who is eligible for jury duty?
You must meet these criteria to be eligible for jury duty in Kansas, according to state law:
Must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the county you were summoned to serve in
Be at least 18 years old
Be a resident of the county for at least 20 days
You are ineligible for jury duty in Kansas if you have been convicted of a felony within the last 10 years and have not been adjudged incompetent by a court, according to state law.
You are eligible for jury duty in Missouri if you meet these criteria, according to Missouri law:
- Over the age of 21
- A United States citizen
- A resident of the county or city sending the summons, unless serving in another county by order of the court
- Are able to read, speak and understand English
You are ineligible for jury duty in Missouri if you were convicted of a felony and your civil rights have not been restored, in the active military, a judge or a person who the judge finds incapable because of mental or physical illness.
How can I get out of jury duty?
If you have served on a jury panel within your county in the past year, you do not have to serve if you have been summoned again. Otherwise, you can make a request to be excused from serving by emailing, faxing or mailing your closest jury coordinator. All requests to be excused must be in writing and come from the summoned juror and must be submitted in a timely manner, according to the District of Kansas.
Jurors can be summoned every three years in Missouri. If you receive a summons and you have already served in the past three years, you can request to be excused from serving by stating that you have served in the questionnaire online. You can also submit a written request to be excused and it will be reviewed by the courts, according to Missouri state law.
Some of the reasons you could be excused from serving include:
- If you are a nursing mother, and you have a written statement from your physician that you are currently nursing.
- If you are a healthcare professional, and your written statement says that you are providing health care to patients, and that jury duty would be detrimental to the patients.
- If you are an employee of a religious group or institute whose religious obligations would prohibit them from serving on a jury.
- If absence from your regular job would adversely affect public safety, health welfare or interest.
- If you are 75 years old or older
Can I be penalized for missing jury duty?
Yes, in both states.
You may be held in contempt of court in Kansas, according to state law. You may also be fined for not serving.
You may also be held in contempt of court and fined in Missouri, according to 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County. The Court may issue an order directing you to a hearing where the you would be required to show a good reason for not appearing for jury duty. If you cannot provide a good reason for failing to appear, the Court could fine you as much as $500 and may order you to perform community service for a time no less than would have been spent in jury service.
You are also re-summoned for jury duty.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 3:05 PM.
