8 Michigan Jury Duty Rules Residents Get Wrong
Michigan pays a juror as little as $25 for showing up to serve.
That’s a far cry from livable pay for a day’s worth of work.
These are the Michigan jury duty mistakes that catch residents off guard.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Jury duty rules, fees, and deadlines are subject to change.
1. Assuming Age 70 Excuses You
Michigan lets a resident sit out jury duty once they’re over 70, but the exemption isn’t automatic.
State law lets anyone older than 70 claim an exemption from jury service, and the court has to excuse them the moment they ask.
Nobody files that paperwork for them.
Skip the request, and a summons still lands on a 78-year-old’s table right along with everyone else’s.
No ask, no exemption.
Residents who file for the exemption get it.
Residents who assume it applies automatically don’t.
It also isn’t a one-time registration.
A resident who turns 71 has to make the same request all over again the next time a summons shows up.
2. Believing One Trial Is Enough
Michigan’s rule on repeat service is narrower than many residents think.
The same law that sets the age cutoff also protects a juror from a second summons, but only for the twelve months after they serve on a jury in a court of record.
After that year passes, the county can call that same name again, legally.
In Wayne County, Michigan’s most populous, the 3rd Circuit Court alone seats 61 judges, so a name that comes up once can easily come up again in front of a completely different courtroom.
One trial doesn’t buy a permanent pass.
It’s twelve months, not forever.
Many Michiganders skip the paperwork the second time around because they assume they’re covered for good, and they aren’t.
3. Missing the Automatic Exemptions
Many Michigan residents think a doctor’s hardship letter or turning 70 are the only ways off a jury list.
Michigan automatically exempts several more groups too.
Nursing mothers can claim an exemption with a letter from a doctor or lactation consultant, and survivors enrolled in the state’s address-confidentiality program for domestic violence and stalking cases can claim the same exemption.
Active-duty service members get the same automatic pass, and so do their spouses when military orders station them away from Michigan.
Each category still needs paperwork behind it, whether that’s a doctor’s letter, a program participation card, or a copy of the military orders.
None of these need a hardship hearing in front of a judge.
No judge required.
A resident just has to know the category exists and ask for it.
4. Doubting the Firing Ban
Michigan treats firing someone over jury duty as a crime, not just bad manners.
An employer who discharges, disciplines, or even threatens a worker for being summoned or serving on a jury is guilty of a misdemeanor, and a judge can hold that employer in contempt of court on top of it.
Many residents still call in a fake excuse because they assume a manager can fire them for missing a shift.
Wrong guess.
That manager would be breaking the law by trying.
5. Letting a Boss Stack Hours
A juror’s normal shift can’t be piled on top of jury duty in Michigan without that juror’s OK.
The same statute that bans firing a juror also stops an employer from making a worker’s jury-duty hours and work hours add up to more than a normal day, or run past quitting time.
A union contract can waive that protection too, if it spells out different terms for jury duty.
A boss can’t legally schedule a full evening shift on top of a morning spent in the jury pool.
Full stop.
Many workers show up anyway because nobody told them the law covers their schedule too.
Psst! How much do you know about Michigan’s courts and jury system? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Michigan Jury Duty IQ
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Where does Michigan pull most of its jury summons list from?
6. Expecting a Guaranteed Paycheck
A Michigan employer can't fire a juror or stack their hours, but nothing in that same law promises to keep paying them.
The statute that bans firing and hour-stacking never requires an employer to keep paying a worker's regular wage during jury service.
Some employers do it anyway, as a benefit.
Michigan law doesn't make them.
A resident who assumes jury duty is automatically paid time off can end up with an unpaid day at work and a court check for a fraction of it.
7. Assuming the Fee Matches Pay
Michigan's jury duty pay is a flat rate that has nothing to do with what a juror earns on the clock.
State law guarantees at least $25 for a juror's first day and at least $40 for every day the trial runs past that, the same floor for a retail cashier and a surgeon.
Many county courts pay above that minimum.
None can legally pay below it.
That flat rate doesn't include mileage either, which Michigan calculates and pays out separately.
Flat is flat.
The Math Behind Michigan's Juror Pay
Michigan's $25-and-$40 figures are a legal floor, not a fixed statewide rate.
A three-day trial pays a Michigan juror $25 for the first day and $40 for each day after, for $105 total before any mileage.
Some county courts add extra pay or mileage on top of that floor, so the exact total depends on which county issued the summons.
8. Tossing the Summons Aside
Michigan doesn't let an ignored jury summons just disappear.
State law makes skipping jury duty without an excuse contempt of court, and a resident who stays silent long enough can be ordered to a show-cause hearing to explain why.
Miss that hearing too, and a judge can issue a warrant, along with fines or jail time for the contempt.
That escalates fast.
Many residents toss the summons in the recycling bin and assume nothing follows.
Something usually does, and it starts with a letter that looks a lot more serious than the first letter.
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