If you receive a jury summons in Kentucky, you are required to respond. State law has no automatic exemptions from jury service, but a court may postpone your service or excuse you for good reason.
How jurors are chosen
The Administrative Office of the Courts keeps a master list of prospective jurors for each county. It combines people over 18 with a driver’s license or state ID card issued in the county, people who filed a Kentucky resident income tax return from an address there, and registered voters. Names are drawn at random. A summons is mailed at least 30 days before the reporting date, with a qualification form to return within five days.
Who can serve
A person is disqualified from jury service if he or she:
- Is under 18.
- Is not a United States citizen.
- Does not live in the county that sent the summons.
- Does not have sufficient knowledge of English.
- Has a felony conviction and has not been pardoned or had civil rights restored.
- Is currently under indictment.
- Has already served on a jury within the past 24 months.
A person 70 or older may ask on the form to be excused. The chief circuit judge may grant a permanent exemption for a permanent medical condition. A disability alone does not disqualify anyone.
Length of service, pay and your job
A summons requires you to be available for 30 court days. If you are seated on a trial, you serve until it ends. Jurors receive $12.50 for each day of attendance: $5 in pay and $7.50 for expenses.
An employer may not fire, threaten or coerce an employee for receiving a summons or serving as a juror. An employer who does commits a Class B misdemeanor, and a fired employee may sue within 90 days for lost wages and reinstatement. Employers are not required to pay wages during jury service.
Postponement, excusal and ignoring a summons
A judge may excuse a juror who shows undue hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity, but the law favors postponing service over excusing it. A designated clerk or court administrator may postpone service for up to 12 months, and a judge for up to 24 months. A breastfeeding mother is excused until she is no longer nursing the child.
A person who does not appear can be ordered into court to explain why and, without good cause, punished for contempt of court, meaning disobeying a court order. Court staff never ask for payment, a credit card number or a Social Security number over missed jury service. A call like that is a scam.
This article is general information about Kentucky law, not legal advice, and the law may have changed since it was last reviewed in October 2026. For advice about your own situation, talk to a lawyer.