Jury Duty Excuse Letter in Connecticut
A short letter asking the court to excuse you from jury duty or postpone it. Follow the instructions on your summons first, because courts handle these requests differently, and keep following the summons until the court answers.
What Connecticut law says
| Who can be excused from jury duty | Jurors must be 18 or older. A person 75 or older may choose not to serve and may ask the Jury Administrator to be left off the summons list. Also disqualified: people convicted of a felony within the past three years, with a pending felony case or in Correction custody; people unable to speak and understand English; people with a physical or mental disability that prevents satisfactory service (a letter from a licensed health care provider is required); certain top state officials and judges; and legislators while the General Assembly is in session. A person who served (and was not excused) in the past three jury years is excused unless they ask to serve, and the Jury Administrator or the court may excuse a juror for extreme hardship. |
|---|---|
| Penalty for skipping jury duty | A summoned juror who fails to appear is subject to a civil penalty in an amount set by the Chief Court Administrator, though the court may excuse the juror from paying it. The same applies to people summoned as substitute jurors (talesmen) who fail to appear without sufficient cause. The Attorney General enforces these penalties. Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-237 |
| Jury duty pay and your job | An employer may not fire, threaten or coerce an employee for receiving a jury summons, responding to it or serving; an employer who does is guilty of criminal contempt, punishable by a fine of not more than $500, up to 30 days in jail, or both. A fired employee may sue within 90 days for lost wages (up to ten weeks) and reinstatement, plus attorney's fees. Employers must pay a full-time employee's regular wages for the first five days of jury service (unless a court excuses the employer for extreme financial hardship), and eight hours of jury duty counts as a full workday. From the sixth day on, the state pays jurors $50 per day; during the first five days, part-time and unemployed jurors are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses including 20 cents a mile, at $20 to $50 per day. |
Fill it in
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[today's date]
[your name]
[your mailing address]
[your phone or email]
To: [court or jury office name and address, from your summons]
Re: Jury summons. Juror number: [juror number from your summons]. Reporting date: [date you are told to report].
Dear [jury commissioner, clerk or judge named on your summons]:
I received a jury summons for the date above. I am asking to be [excused from / postponed from] jury service because [your reason, in one or two plain sentences].
I have attached [documents supporting your request, such as a doctor's note, or none].
If my service can be postponed, I can serve on these dates: [dates you are available].
Please tell me in writing whether my request is approved. I understand that I must follow the summons until I hear from the court.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Jury Duty Excuse Letter for other states · Connecticut tenant rights
Last verified against official sources: October 22, 2026.
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General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.