North Carolina Judicial Branch

The so-called “jury duty scam” periodically makes its rounds in North Carolina, especially around the holiday season. Elderly North Carolinians are often targeted and particularly vulnerable to this scam, but anyone can be duped by the clever perpetrators. Members of the public have reported being scammed out of thousands of dollars. In reality, per North Carolina statute the penalty for disobeying a jury summons is currently $50.00 for each time a juror fails to appear.

The scam has evolved over the years, but the premise is usually the same. The caller will:

• Claim to be a judge or member of the court, local police, local sheriff's office, or a federal agency
• Often use the name of a real judge or officer obtained from a public source, and may even use a fake Caller ID of that office
• Often use details about you obtained from a public source
• Claim you have failed to appear for jury service or jury duty
• Claim you are in contempt of court or that a local or federal warrant has been issued for your arrest
• Claim that to avoid arrest and jail, you can pay a fine or bond typically requested in the form of a pre-paid debit or gift card, which makes it impossible to retrieve your money and difficult to track down the scammer
• Ask you to meet them at your local courthouse, police department, sheriff’s office, or some other location
• Convince you to stay on the phone with them while you purchase pre-paid debit and / or gift cards and read the numbers back to them to confirm the purchase
• Ask you to confirm your identity by soliciting personal information, including your name, birth date, Social Security number, credit card number, and other personal or financial information

If you receive such a call, HANG UP without providing any information about yourself or taking any action. Trust your instincts. If the call does not feel right, hang up and do not engage the caller. You may be pressured into staying on the phone to purchase a money order, pre-paid debit card, or gift card, but you should resist and hang up. If asked to do so, please do not leave your home or place of work to meet the caller at any location, including your local courthouse or sheriff’s office.

Report any suspicious calls (or emails) to your local Sheriff's Office. Victims may also report it to the N.C. Attorney General's Office or call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.

You can confirm if you have been selected for jury service or failed to appear by contacting the clerk of superior court office in your county.

• In North Carolina, official jury summonses, as well as failure to appear notices, are always delivered to your home or post office box by first class mail.
• Court officials and law enforcement officers never make phone calls to threaten arrest or warn you of an impending arrest for failing to appear for jury service or any other infraction.
• These scam phone calls often occur in the evening, after courthouses have closed and employees have gone home for the night, which should be a red flag.
• Scammers obtain targets’ names, phone numbers, or addresses from phone directories or other public records and often call after working hours because they know they have a better chance of reaching their intended victims.
• Caller ID can be manipulated to appear as a local number or display the name and phone number of any agency or business, so don’t be fooled.
• Scammers often ask for payments of hundreds or thousands of dollars. The actual penalty for disobeying a jury summons is currently $50.00 for each time a juror fails to appear.
• If you have concerns, hang up and look up the courthouse phone number yourself (do not rely on any phone numbers provided by the caller) to verify with the jury coordinator or clerk of superior court’s office if you have, in fact, been summonsed for jury service or failed to appear.

Find more information about jury service and your local courthouse.

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At least every two years, a three-person Jury Commission for each county oversees the compiling of a master jury list of licensed drivers and / or registered voters. Names are drawn at random from this list. A jury summons is printed and issued to jurors by U.S. mail.

Qualified jurors must be

• Citizens of the United States
• Residents of the county where the summons was issued
• At least 18 years old 
• Physically and mentally competent
• Able to understand English

Qualified jurors must NOT

• Have served as a juror during the previous two years
• Have served a full term as a grand juror in the last six years
• Have been convicted of a felony (unless citizenship rights have been restored)

A jury summons is an official court summons. The court could hold you in contempt and / or impose a $50 fine for each time you fail to appear. If you lose your jury summons, contact the Clerk of Superior Court office in your county as soon as possible to obtain reporting information.

Procedures to request an excuse or deferral vary from county to county. Read your summons for specific instructions or you may find more information for jury service in your county through the dropdown list at the top of this page. Generally, you must contact the clerk of superior court office or the chief district court judge’s office if you want to be excused or defer your jury service. You must have a compelling reason why you cannot serve on the assigned date.

Any person summoned as a juror who is a full-time student at an out of state educational institution and who wishes to be excused or who is 72 years or older and who wishes to be excused, deferred, or exempted, may make the request without appearing in person by filing a signed statement of the ground of the request at any time five business days before the date upon which the person is summoned to appear.

Any person summoned as a juror who has a disability that could interfere with the person's ability to serve as a juror and who wishes to be excused, deferred, or exempted may make the request without appearing in person by filing a signed statement of the ground of the request, including a brief explanation of the disability that interferes with the person's ability to serve as a juror, at any time five business days before the date upon which the person is summoned to appear. Upon request of the court, medical documentation of any disability may be submitted. Any privileged medical information or protected health information described in this section shall be confidential.

The Judicial Branch is committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from all court services, programs, and activities. If you require an accommodation to participate in jury service (not for an excusal or deferral), please let the court know as soon as possible prior to the date you are summoned to appear. This will allow sufficient time to make arrangements to accommodate your request. You may request a reasonable accommodation:

1. In person.
2. By contacting your county’s Disability Access Coordinator (DAC) by phone, letter, or email. You may email the DAC directly by emailing (CountyName)[email protected] (for example, [email protected]). You may find their name and phone number on this statewide list.
3. By completing the online Disability Access Request Form. The online form will send an email with your request details to your county DAC and a confirmation of your request to your email. The request will be received and processed by the local DAC.

Your jury summons provides the date, time, and place to report for jury duty. Check in with the jury staff when you arrive.

Bring reading materials to occupy your time. While efforts will be made to reduce delays and to avoid long waiting periods, some waiting time should be anticipated.

Dress comfortably, but not too casually. Dress for court in a manner that maintains the dignity of the court. For example, many judges do not allow anyone to come to court wearing halter or tank tops, cut-off jeans, or shirts with offensive wording and / or images. You will be acting as part of the court while serving as a juror, so dress appropriately. Wear layered clothing since courtroom temperatures may vary considerably.

The Clerk of Court will issue payment via pre-paid debit card or by check by U.S. mail a few days after your jury service concludes.

• Trial jurors receive $12 for the first day of service and $20 for each day thereafter. If you serve more than five days, you will receive $40 per day.
• Grand jurors receive $20 per day.

It is against the law for an employer to fire or demote an employee because he or she served as a juror or grand juror. However, the law does not require that the employee be paid in full while serving. Notify your employer as soon as you receive a jury summons and check with your employer regarding the payment policy for jury service. Read more in the Employers' Guide to Jury Service.

In smaller counties, your jury summons may tell you whether you are summoned for a criminal or civil session of court. In larger counties, several court sessions are held at the same time, so you may hear either criminal or civil matters. If you are seated for a trial, you must serve until the trial ends, which could be two days to several weeks. However, most jurors only serve for one or two days.

If a family emergency occurs while you are serving, you may be contacted through the Clerk of Court’s office or at an emergency number given to you by a bailiff. Court staff will make certain that you receive any emergency messages.

When you report to the courthouse, you may be required to watch a juror orientation video. Court staff will give you additional information. All jurors will take an oath. Once a trial begins and you are sworn in, you will be given a juror badge to wear until you are released by the judge. The judge will instruct you on your duties as a juror.

It is extremely rare for a jury to be sequestered or kept in a hotel during a trial. You should expect to go home at the end of each court day.

If you have trouble with the video, watch the orientation video on YouTube.