Jury Duty: Frequently-Asked Questions
Stearns County Court Administration (320.656.3620) is the department to call with juror questions.
Please note: No cell phones are allowed inside the courthouse or courts facility buildings. If you bring your cell phone with you, you will be asked to leave it at the door in a storage area (which is unsecured), or return to your vehicle to leave it there.
Here are the most commonly asked questions:
"Is there any way that I can get out of jury duty?"
The only jurors who are excused are jurors who are able to provide a doctor's statement that they are unable to serve because of a mental or physical problem. However, Court Administration will work with jurors to make their service more convenient; i.e., postponement to a less busy time of the year.
Doctors, day care providers, and over-the-road truckers, and students may be allowed more flexibility in their schedules -- blocking out days that they are not available and choosing one to three days during their term that they could serve.
"Does my employer have to let me off for jury duty? Do they have to pay me?"
The employer must allow an employee the time off to attend jury duty, but the employer is not required to pay for the time.
"I can't afford to do jury duty, because my children would need to be in day care. What can I do?"
Day care will be paid by the state if day care costs are not normally incurred. If the juror would normally be at work and his or her children are in day care anyway, the state will not reimburse the day care costs. But if it was the juror's day off and the children would not have been in day care, the fee for the day will be reimbursed.