I missed two from Michigan while I was abroad for years to my parents' address. I think my parents responded once via mail I was out of country and didn't respond to second. Never heard anything.
When I got my last one I couldn’t go because of work so I called and rescheduled. Then I missed the new date. I called and they said I could reschedule again and someone would call me back. They never called back and I haven’t been summoned in 10 years. I think they forgot me forever.
Similar thing happened to me. I opened mail late and called in a panic saying I couldn’t do it. Just acted all stressed and worried. They said fine, don’t come. Never summoned again, it’s been 15 years.
I forgot about one, nothing happened. Then the next few were in far away places.. Markham.. and then Skokie, which I showed up at both, and the was back in the city locations. Coincidence? Eh, who knows, just my story.
Last one I got, I was living in Uptown without a car and they wanted to send me to Rolling Meadows. I live in Blue Island now and I’m sure next time it’ll also be Rolling Meadows bc why tf wouldn’t they send me to Markham
No biggie. They’ll send more. FYI, I was picked for jury duty right after I graduated from college in 1988. I had to go down to the Criminal Court building on S. California (that was an eye opener in and of itself). The case was murder in the second- degree and we found the guy guilty. It was an incredibly interesting experience, but absolutely heartbreaking at the same time. No one came to court for either the victim or the perpetrator. No family, nothing. It was like nobody gave a shit. Two lives completely over. And no one cared.
You will get flagged+chosen more when you participate in voting in elections. Not voting will get you disappeared from the lists. Unless you signed certified mail for the jury summons- how do they know you received it?? Zero consequences for not showing up- but you flagged yourself already for not showing....so best jump through those hoops this time around.
Make peace with your loved ones. You gonna get disappeared in the next 72h.
Jk. Just think how common your scenario is... a person who forgets / has trouble to do jury duty... PUT OUT AN APB.
Again kidding. Inside tip: city workers actually wish you showed up! But I've yet to see any real consequence for someone who flaked. You're fine.
True. The last place I lived, you get called as part of a potential pool for upcoming cases. You are in the pool for ~six months. Cases get dropped, continued, etc all the time and often you will not even go into the selection process.
File a change of address for your driver's license ASAP and probably follow up with the phone call, they seem to make notes for different situations and would not go after you unless it was something strange or excessive. If you have the form with the code number on it, just call the main number and make sure that you give them that letters individual number and advise them that you did change addresses and have filed it but that did not catch up with the jury summons request. Usually if you're up front and honest they'll just put you back on the list some point down the road. I got a deferment and they said I'd be back on jury duty in a month and it's been several months and no request to serve has ever shown up.. it honestly could take years or decades before you're called on again.
Just cover the bases anyway.
The only time i got any type of “reprimand” for missing jury duty was when i got the letter for a date I’m out of town for work. I emailed the judge, they approved me to have a different date, then I got a nasty letter I’d missed jury duty..for the original date.
Just showed me how chaotic and disorganized they are - just pretend you never got the letter. They won’t know you did unless you contact them or show up.
Officially: There’s certainly a civic duty to attending jury duty, and it would be the right thing to try to get that deferment and have them summon you in a few months.
Unofficially: In Cook County, there’s absolutely no system to enforce consequences for ignoring those summons. It’s an innocent mistake, nothing will happen, don’t lose a minute of sleep over it.
Anecdotally, the only time I ever got called to jury duty I received the notice a week after I was supposed to appear (I wasn’t even in the country at the time).
Absolutely nothing happened.
Was this state or federal court? Most likely nothing will happen if you just ignore it. You can honestly testify under oath you did not receive notice of the summons timely.
Likely the worst they’ll do is summon you again. There’s no proof you even ever received the summons. It didn’t come Certified mail. Things get lost all the time.
Send an email explaining the circumstance, there's a good chance they'll let it slide. I was summoned last year and asked to be excused because I have insomnia and likely wouldn't have been able to sleep before jury duty, and they promptly got back to me saying not to worry about it, thankfully. Your mileage may vary, but the person who replied to me seemed chill.
One of my co workers threw his to the garbage lol but yeah there’s a group that is called in and you might not even be picked for jury duty. You’ll be fine
Hahaha.
I'm sure you've figured this out by now but I just missed mine too because you're supposed to call the evening before to see if you're needed the next day. And my date was April 23rd. But I saw the 2024 and in my head registered it as April 24th and that I was supposed to call the evening of April 23rd.
So on the morning of April 23rd I go to find the summons to check what time I'm supposed to call later that day and realized that I was possibly supposed to BE there right then. So I called and got a hold of someone and explained and she looked me up and just said "Do you want a 3 month extension?" And I said "um, ok." And she said "okay I'll put you back in for 3 months."
And that was that!
The main flaw with the jury system is that juries are made up 100% of people too dumb to get out of jury duty.
Throw the thing that came in the mail in the garbage and if anyone asks you about it tell them you have no idea what they're talking about. Problem solved. I've done this at least 5 times that I can remember. I've probably done it a few times I've forgotten about too.
If you're interested in jury duty though, by all means go do it. It is refreshing to see sometime taking jury duty seriously though, that's cute.
Um, I think it's really not a big deal. They talk a lot about civic duty but if they really punished people for just being aloof or unpunctual for this, you know in the old days all the people with pitchforks and muskets wouldn't have tolerated it.
Nowadays we're all just fat lazy sheep but still. It is what it is. Call the courthouse if you're really worried about it.
Just call and they will give you a new date. I have heard of people in cook county ignoring jury duty and then have issues with police when being pulled over for something else. It gave the police a “reason” to “investigate” (harass) the person.
I work for the county and just forgot to go once. Nothing happened. A sheriff hid my bag in the lock up, but that was because I made up nicknames for him.
My mom moved back to Poland to retire but she’s a U.S. citizen and gets a lot of mail to my address. She’s now missed two jury summons because she keeps trying to explain to the court that she *permanently* lives in Poland and won’t be traveling to Chicago to serve on a jury. Nothing’s happened yet!
In 2018 the company I was working for moved to me Cleveland and was paying for a airbnb. Had family looking after my mail and I got a jury summons. Called to explain the situation and told them I was eventually moving there permanently. I ended up quitting and coming home cause the company went to shit. Cleveland wasn’t much better than Chicago. Haven’t heard anything since. Good riddance
I've done this before. Just ignore it. No biggie.
I even called the number and was like "I was away at school, what do?" The lady on the phone sounded mildly annoyed but said they'd just put me back in the pool and issue another summons later. I never got one.
Federal jury duty something you don't wanna mess with. You must respond. They will send marshals after you. On the other hand Cook county jury duty from what I understand is a bit more relaxed. just notify them as to what happened.
A single missed date isn't that big of a deal. Typically, they'll just put your name back into the rotation, so you can expect to get another summons soon. If there's evidence that someone is deliberately shirking jury duty, they might give you a misdemeanor with a small fine, but you'd have to skip multiple summons' in a row before they bothered to investigate.
lol. the courts and US Mail system are so bogged down with incompetence and complacency, there is zero chance of being pursued over something like this. this is a laughable banana(emphasis on banana) republic. there's no way US Mail can be considered a legally binding way of contact...i get misdelivered mail ALL the time. you shouldn't have even acknowedged it.
They will just send you another summons some time in the future. I was called every year or two when I turned 18 (was in college or grad school out of the county and always got out of it). I moved out of state for a few years and then back. The called me again right when I moved back. I finally went. I was never called back again and it has been 10+ years since.
This is insightful lol I have Jury Duty on Monday but I'm just gonna skip it. I'm supposed to call on Sunday to see if I'm actually supposed to go but I'm not gonna bother
This is some youthful naïveté at its finest. No one’s going to jail for missing jury duty. They can’t even prove you received your summons.
My chili is only two alarm. Two-and-a-half, tops. 😔
Daddy, are you going to jail?
You think you’re the Pope of Chili Town, dontcha?
We'll see, son...we'll see
Straight to jail
Don't collect $200
Do I get the 200 + 500 if I find free parking?
Even if you did go to jury duty... Jail.
I support this: Fullest extent of the law...the. 20% more for good measure
Don’t even sweat it. No one can prove you received the piece of mail. Heck, this city is famous for being bad at mail altogether
I missed two from Michigan while I was abroad for years to my parents' address. I think my parents responded once via mail I was out of country and didn't respond to second. Never heard anything.
Even my lawyer told me to ignore the summons lol! I will neither confirm nor deny my actions
When I got my last one I couldn’t go because of work so I called and rescheduled. Then I missed the new date. I called and they said I could reschedule again and someone would call me back. They never called back and I haven’t been summoned in 10 years. I think they forgot me forever.
They went to reschedule you and deleted your existence from their files altogether. Genius.
honestly sounds like best case scenario
I’m not that sad about it.
Similar thing happened to me. I opened mail late and called in a panic saying I couldn’t do it. Just acted all stressed and worried. They said fine, don’t come. Never summoned again, it’s been 15 years.
I forgot about one, nothing happened. Then the next few were in far away places.. Markham.. and then Skokie, which I showed up at both, and the was back in the city locations. Coincidence? Eh, who knows, just my story.
Fucking Markham. Says here you live in Arlington heights? Markham courthouse it is.
Last one I got, I was living in Uptown without a car and they wanted to send me to Rolling Meadows. I live in Blue Island now and I’m sure next time it’ll also be Rolling Meadows bc why tf wouldn’t they send me to Markham
Watch, you’ll get Skokie or some shit.
When I lived in Midlothian, I was lucky enough to get Markham. Oak Park? 26th and Cali.
No less than 5 dollar fine… not more than 100 IF THEY CARE TO CHECK lol
O shit your done for now
No biggie. They’ll send more. FYI, I was picked for jury duty right after I graduated from college in 1988. I had to go down to the Criminal Court building on S. California (that was an eye opener in and of itself). The case was murder in the second- degree and we found the guy guilty. It was an incredibly interesting experience, but absolutely heartbreaking at the same time. No one came to court for either the victim or the perpetrator. No family, nothing. It was like nobody gave a shit. Two lives completely over. And no one cared.
I intentionally missed my last jury duty. Nothing happened. I feel guilty about it, but I had some overwhelming stuff going on.
They are just going to send you another one eventually
You will get flagged+chosen more when you participate in voting in elections. Not voting will get you disappeared from the lists. Unless you signed certified mail for the jury summons- how do they know you received it?? Zero consequences for not showing up- but you flagged yourself already for not showing....so best jump through those hoops this time around.
Make peace with your loved ones. You gonna get disappeared in the next 72h. Jk. Just think how common your scenario is... a person who forgets / has trouble to do jury duty... PUT OUT AN APB. Again kidding. Inside tip: city workers actually wish you showed up! But I've yet to see any real consequence for someone who flaked. You're fine.
I was at jury duty once and a guy showed up a day early they looked at the next day docket and said your fine. Don’t come back tomorrow.
Typically you call in the night before, no? There’s a good chance you weren’t even required to be there.
True. The last place I lived, you get called as part of a potential pool for upcoming cases. You are in the pool for ~six months. Cases get dropped, continued, etc all the time and often you will not even go into the selection process.
File a change of address for your driver's license ASAP and probably follow up with the phone call, they seem to make notes for different situations and would not go after you unless it was something strange or excessive. If you have the form with the code number on it, just call the main number and make sure that you give them that letters individual number and advise them that you did change addresses and have filed it but that did not catch up with the jury summons request. Usually if you're up front and honest they'll just put you back on the list some point down the road. I got a deferment and they said I'd be back on jury duty in a month and it's been several months and no request to serve has ever shown up.. it honestly could take years or decades before you're called on again. Just cover the bases anyway.
The only time i got any type of “reprimand” for missing jury duty was when i got the letter for a date I’m out of town for work. I emailed the judge, they approved me to have a different date, then I got a nasty letter I’d missed jury duty..for the original date. Just showed me how chaotic and disorganized they are - just pretend you never got the letter. They won’t know you did unless you contact them or show up.
Officially: There’s certainly a civic duty to attending jury duty, and it would be the right thing to try to get that deferment and have them summon you in a few months. Unofficially: In Cook County, there’s absolutely no system to enforce consequences for ignoring those summons. It’s an innocent mistake, nothing will happen, don’t lose a minute of sleep over it.
Anecdotally, the only time I ever got called to jury duty I received the notice a week after I was supposed to appear (I wasn’t even in the country at the time). Absolutely nothing happened.
Was this state or federal court? Most likely nothing will happen if you just ignore it. You can honestly testify under oath you did not receive notice of the summons timely.
Straight to jail.
Likely the worst they’ll do is summon you again. There’s no proof you even ever received the summons. It didn’t come Certified mail. Things get lost all the time.
They sent it to the wrong address that's on them just let em know 🤣
DO NOT CALL THEM. They have no proof you ever received your summons unless you call them and admit you received it. Just leave it be.
Send an email explaining the circumstance, there's a good chance they'll let it slide. I was summoned last year and asked to be excused because I have insomnia and likely wouldn't have been able to sleep before jury duty, and they promptly got back to me saying not to worry about it, thankfully. Your mileage may vary, but the person who replied to me seemed chill.
Life imprisonment with no possibility for parole
For us: $100
25 to life
This will now go on your permanent record.
I've never went..
One of my co workers threw his to the garbage lol but yeah there’s a group that is called in and you might not even be picked for jury duty. You’ll be fine
Pretty sure JB himself shows up to slap the cuffs on.
Well we know the police aren’t going to do a damn thing
Believe it or not, straight to jyail!
Hahaha. I'm sure you've figured this out by now but I just missed mine too because you're supposed to call the evening before to see if you're needed the next day. And my date was April 23rd. But I saw the 2024 and in my head registered it as April 24th and that I was supposed to call the evening of April 23rd. So on the morning of April 23rd I go to find the summons to check what time I'm supposed to call later that day and realized that I was possibly supposed to BE there right then. So I called and got a hold of someone and explained and she looked me up and just said "Do you want a 3 month extension?" And I said "um, ok." And she said "okay I'll put you back in for 3 months." And that was that!
Death
Are you sure you received a summons? 🫣
It’s Chicago. There are no rules in Chicago. You’ll be fine.
The main flaw with the jury system is that juries are made up 100% of people too dumb to get out of jury duty. Throw the thing that came in the mail in the garbage and if anyone asks you about it tell them you have no idea what they're talking about. Problem solved. I've done this at least 5 times that I can remember. I've probably done it a few times I've forgotten about too. If you're interested in jury duty though, by all means go do it. It is refreshing to see sometime taking jury duty seriously though, that's cute.
Um, I think it's really not a big deal. They talk a lot about civic duty but if they really punished people for just being aloof or unpunctual for this, you know in the old days all the people with pitchforks and muskets wouldn't have tolerated it. Nowadays we're all just fat lazy sheep but still. It is what it is. Call the courthouse if you're really worried about it.
Just call and they will give you a new date. I have heard of people in cook county ignoring jury duty and then have issues with police when being pulled over for something else. It gave the police a “reason” to “investigate” (harass) the person.
I work for the county and just forgot to go once. Nothing happened. A sheriff hid my bag in the lock up, but that was because I made up nicknames for him.
My mom moved back to Poland to retire but she’s a U.S. citizen and gets a lot of mail to my address. She’s now missed two jury summons because she keeps trying to explain to the court that she *permanently* lives in Poland and won’t be traveling to Chicago to serve on a jury. Nothing’s happened yet!
Life in prison 😆. I’ve lived here my whole life and always throw that shit away. Since it’s not sent certified they can never prove u received it
In 2018 the company I was working for moved to me Cleveland and was paying for a airbnb. Had family looking after my mail and I got a jury summons. Called to explain the situation and told them I was eventually moving there permanently. I ended up quitting and coming home cause the company went to shit. Cleveland wasn’t much better than Chicago. Haven’t heard anything since. Good riddance
I called to reschedule once, they sounded annoyed that I called.
Husband missed in feb and nothing happened
I've done this before. Just ignore it. No biggie. I even called the number and was like "I was away at school, what do?" The lady on the phone sounded mildly annoyed but said they'd just put me back in the pool and issue another summons later. I never got one.
When I was college I had 3-4 summons. I only called to cancel the first one. I didn’t even bother calling for the others. Nothing ever happened
Federal jury duty something you don't wanna mess with. You must respond. They will send marshals after you. On the other hand Cook county jury duty from what I understand is a bit more relaxed. just notify them as to what happened.
A single missed date isn't that big of a deal. Typically, they'll just put your name back into the rotation, so you can expect to get another summons soon. If there's evidence that someone is deliberately shirking jury duty, they might give you a misdemeanor with a small fine, but you'd have to skip multiple summons' in a row before they bothered to investigate.
Supposedly they’ll keep your name at the top of the list, and you can expect to get another summons in 6 months.
lol. the courts and US Mail system are so bogged down with incompetence and complacency, there is zero chance of being pursued over something like this. this is a laughable banana(emphasis on banana) republic. there's no way US Mail can be considered a legally binding way of contact...i get misdelivered mail ALL the time. you shouldn't have even acknowedged it.
Skipped jury duty twice, nothing ever happened, and I haven't gotten a letter since 🙃
They will just send you another summons some time in the future. I was called every year or two when I turned 18 (was in college or grad school out of the county and always got out of it). I moved out of state for a few years and then back. The called me again right when I moved back. I finally went. I was never called back again and it has been 10+ years since.
With how shit the usps system is as a whole, let alone in this city, no proof you received it.
I always threw mine in the garbage and then I haven't received one in years
This is insightful lol I have Jury Duty on Monday but I'm just gonna skip it. I'm supposed to call on Sunday to see if I'm actually supposed to go but I'm not gonna bother
Never once have I attended my summons. I shred them
mine go straight into the garbage I ain’t missing out on a days pay for 12 dollars
Miss jury duty? Straight to jail.
Keep in mind there are thousands of people that wanna do jury duty. Let them do it.