WA, OR, and CA Jury Duty Pay Rates in 2024: What You Need to Know

Most people I know absolutely dread getting called up for jury duty. I, on the other hand, am excited to be a juror. I know, I’m strange. But not strange enough to come up with crazy excuses why I can't serve on a jury. (I'm looking at you, Liz Lemon!)

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Maybe it’s because I loved watching Judge Judy in my early 20s and wished I could be there in person to listen to all of the evidence in her cases. I mean, watching her on TV sure was fun, but I'm sure it wasn't the same as actually being inside the courtroom!

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Maybe it’s because I laughed my you-know-what off when Martin tried to represent himself in the courtroom on Season 2, Episode 16, No Justice, No Peace.

Maybe it has something to do with all those Perry Mason and ~~Andy Griffith~~ Matlock episodes that I used to watch as an elementary school student. I was too young to understand what exactly was going on in those two TV shows and I didn’t have any dreams of becoming a lawyer or judge, but I knew back then that the goings on in a courtroom was highly intriguing to my young mind.

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I know the jury pay isn't much practically any state you live in, but it still counts (that is, if you are able to miss the time off of work for jury duty).

Run them coins, as the kids say!

The first time I got called to jury duty, I was very nervous. I answered the questions that the county prosecutor and defense attorney asked us in the jury pool and never expected my name to be called. But lo and behold, I was selected.

During our jury deliberation, I was the only one on the jury who wanted to see all the county's evidence against the defendant that related to the case. I couldn't believe everybody in the room was too scared to ask. Not me! I pushed a button on the wall and asked our bailiff to bring out all the evidence for us to observe.

I was like, "Let's bring it out already!"

I’m glad I spoke up, because as a jury, seeing all of the transcripts, a big thing of "8 ball", baggies of "the coco", and drug weighing scales up close and in person turned out to be crucial elements in our unanimous decision of which charges actually should be brought and which ones shouldn't. No one was getting overcharged that day, not on our watch!

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JURY DUTY PAY IN DOLLARS AND SENSE

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Since that time I served as a juror, I haven't been able to report for duty for hardship reasons. This was because the low jury pay would have caused me extreme hardship at the time due to my work status as a part-time, non-salaried employee and lack of affordable child care. I was so disappointed that I couldn't participate in the civic duty process. But hopefully, I will be able to serve as a juror again someday.