Jury Duty in D.C.: What to Expect and Why It Matters
The envelope from D.C. Superior Court arrives, and most people have the same first thought: how do I get out of this?
That reaction makes sense, and it gets the summons backwards. For most residents, jury duty in D.C. is the one time they will exercise government power directly. Everywhere else, they elect someone to exercise it for them. In the jury box, twelve residents decide whether the government has proved its case, and no official sits above them.
We try cases in the Moultrie Courthouse, so we see jury service from counsel table. This guide covers what the summons requires, what the day looks like, what jurors are paid, and how D.C. law protects your job.
Answer the Summons
Superior Court draws prospective jurors from a master juror list compiled from District records. If your name comes up, you receive a summons and a qualification form. The court asks you to respond within five days of receiving the summons, even if you believe you cannot serve. Your response is how you ask for a deferral. Silence asks for nothing.
The statute backs the summons with penalties. Under D.C. Code § 11-1906(c), a person who does not return the qualification form can be ordered to appear before the clerk to complete it, or to appear before the court and explain why they should not be held in contempt. The penalty is a fine of up to $300, up to seven days in jail, or both. Section 11-1907 carries the same penalty for failing to appear when summoned. The court would rather have your answer than your fine, but the authority is real.
The statute also limits how often the court can call you. Under § 11-1911, no one has to serve more than once as a grand or petit juror in any 24-month period, unless the master juror list runs short or the court orders otherwise.
What the Day Looks Like
Most people picture a trial. What they get first is a waiting room.
Jurors report to the Moultrie Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Room 4670. You clear security, check in, and watch an orientation video in the jury lounge. Then you wait while courtrooms call for panels. Nobody can predict whether your name goes out at 9:30 a.m. or not at all.
If you are called, you walk to a courtroom with a few dozen other residents, and jury selection, called voir dire, begins. The judge describes the case, reads the names of the witnesses, and asks questions. Do you know anyone involved? Have you or a family member been the victim of a crime or worked in law enforcement? Is there anything in your life that would make it hard for you to be fair? You can ask to answer a private question at the bench, out of earshot of the room.
The judge then excuses jurors who cannot be fair, and each side uses a limited number of peremptory strikes. The people left are the jury. Most people who report are never seated on a trial, and many go home the same day.
Who Can Serve on a D.C. Jury
Section 11-1906(b) sets a low bar on purpose. A juror must live in the District, be a U.S. citizen, be at least 18, and be able to read, speak, and understand English.
The disqualifications are narrow. A person is disqualified if a physical or mental infirmity makes them incapable of satisfactory jury service. Blindness alone is not a disqualification; a blind juror can be excluded from a particular case only if blindness makes satisfactory service in that case impossible. A person with a pending felony or misdemeanor charge is disqualified while the charge is pending. A person convicted of a felony may qualify again no sooner than one year after finishing incarceration, probation, or parole, and only after certification under the court’s jury plan.
Hardship is handled through deferral. Under § 11-1909, the court may postpone your service for undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, public necessity, or a temporary physical or mental disability. A scheduled surgery, a newborn at home, or a week your job cannot absorb are the usual reasons. You ask for the deferral by responding to the summons, not by ignoring it.
Juror Pay and Your Job
Juror fees are set by the Superior Court’s Board of Judges and cannot exceed the federal juror rate (§ 11-1912). Under the court’s current payment guidance, petit jurors who are unemployed, retired, or not paid their full salary while serving receive $57 a day. Government workers and others who keep their full salary receive a $7 travel stipend instead. Payment goes on a Visa debit card, which you activate after 5 p.m. on your first day of service by calling 1-800-341-6700.
Two rules protect your income. If you receive D.C. unemployment benefits, jury service does not cost you those benefits (§ 11-1912(b)). And many employers have to keep paying you for a short term of service. Under D.C. Code § 15-718(c), a juror employed full-time in the District is entitled to their usual pay, minus the juror fee, for jury service of five days or less. Employers with ten or fewer employees are exempt. An employee who is not paid can sue for the wages and recover attorney’s fees if they win.
Your job is protected as well. Under § 11-1913, an employer may not fire, threaten, or coerce an employee because the employee received a summons, responded to one, served on a jury, or came to court for prospective service. A violation is criminal contempt, punishable by up to $300, 30 days in jail, or both for a first offense, and up to $5,000, 180 days, or both for any later offense. An employee fired in violation of the statute has nine months to sue for lost wages, reinstatement, and damages, and the court awards reasonable attorney’s fees to an employee who wins.
Talk to HR before you report so you know your employer’s policy and whether § 15-718 covers you.
Why Your Service Matters
The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant an impartial jury, and the Seventh Amendment preserves the jury in civil cases. Neither guarantee works on its own. A jury can only be drawn from the people who answer the summons.
When a cross-section of the city stays home, the court still seats a jury. It seats one from whoever could not get out of it. The District’s jury statute opens with a policy of juries chosen at random from a fair cross-section of residents (§ 11-1901), and § 11-1903 bars excluding anyone on account of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, economic status, marital status, age, or, with limits, physical handicap. Those commitments depend on people showing up.
From counsel table the difference is visible. A jury that looks like the city knows what a traffic stop on Alabama Avenue looks like and what a police report leaves out. It sends sharper notes to the judge during deliberations, and it is harder to win over with a weak case, whichever side brought it.
A jury’s acquittal is also final. No judge or prosecutor can undo it. Nearly every other public decision in the District is made by someone who was appointed, elected, or hired. A verdict belongs to residents chosen at random.
If You Report Next Week
A few practical points, drawn from the court’s juror guidance:
Confirm your reporting status by calling 202-879-4604, option 5, after 5 p.m. the day before your service. Grand jurors do not call in; they report on their service date.
Bring your summons, a valid photo ID, any medication you need, bottled water, a light snack, and something to read. You will go through security screening, so leave anything sharp at home.
Dress as you would for any court appearance. Business casual is a safe choice.
Answer voir dire questions truthfully, including the uncomfortable ones. If you doubt you could weigh a police officer’s testimony fairly, or a relative was robbed last year, the court needs to know. Ask to approach the bench for anything private.
If you are seated, stay off the internet. Do not research the case, the parties, the lawyers, or the location, and do not discuss the case with anyone, including other jurors, until deliberations begin. Verdicts have been overturned for less.
The Other Side of the Courtroom
People end up in a District courtroom one of two ways. They are summoned, or they are charged or sued.
We write often about the second group: how grand juries in Superior Court work, where drug cases are won and lost, and how pretrial release operates. Each of those posts assumes that if a case goes to trial, a fair jury will be there to hear it. That jury is built one summons at a time.
If you are facing a criminal charge, a civil suit, or a dispute headed for trial, the Law Office of Jacobie K. Whitley, PLLC tries cases in the District and Maryland. Call (202) 499-2403 to discuss your matter.
This article is general information about jury service in the District of Columbia, current as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Juror pay, procedures, and reporting instructions change; confirm current details with the D.C. Superior Court Juror Office at 202-879-4604 or jurorhelp@dcsc.gov.
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