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District Court Jury Service
Trial by jury is a right guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Washington.
You must respond to your jury summons. "A person summoned for jury service who intentionally fails to appear as directed shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." (RCW 2.36.170).
What to do when summoned
Serving on a jury is an important part of living in a democracy. Your service helps ensure that those on trial receive their constitutional right to be heard by a jury of their peers. Thank you for serving!
If you have a disability and believe you may need help to serve as a juror, visit our Disability Accommodations page.
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Respond to your summons
Visit the Juror Portal within 5 days of receiving a summons postcard in the mail from King County District Court.
At the portal you are able to:
- Update your contact information.
- Confirm your eligibility and availability to serve.
- Defer (reschedule) your jury summons to a later jury term that better accommodates your schedule.
- Request a hardship to be excused, if you are unable to serve.
If you lost your summons
If the summons was from King County District Court, please email us at KCDCJury@kingcounty.gov and provide your full name and date of birth.
If your Juror Confirmation is unavailable
You can review the status of your summons at the top of the Juror Portal. If your jury service was ended, the status on the Juror Portal shows as “Ended” or “N/A.” This means the court you were summoned to no longer requires jurors. Thank you for your willingness to serve.
For summons from King County Superior Court or municipal courts in the county, you will need to follow the directions on the summons you received from those courts. You will not be able to respond to another court’s jury summons through the King County District Court juror portal.
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Check back before your scheduled service
The courthouse you have been summoned to and the start date of your service are listed on the summons postcard you received in the mail. That courthouse will email you during the week prior to your start date with reporting instructions, a new juror ID number, and jury hotline phone number (which also can be found on the postcard summons).
Call the jury hotline number found on your postcard summons and in your email from the court after 5:00 pm on the business day before your jury service is scheduled to start to check that you should still come to court.
You also will need to call that same jury hotline number after 5:00 pm every night during the week you have been summoned, until the court releases you from jury service.
Check the schedule during bad weather
If the court decides that it will not keep ordinary schedules, we will post this information on our homepage. You also can call the Jury Service hotline number listed on your postcard summons for any updates or schedule changes.
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Come to court
Report to the courthouse location. Bring your summons postcard with you. Plan extra time to go through security screening.
Getting there
Courthouse location addresses, and maps
We do not provide bus passes. However, we do reimburse for bus fare, ferry fees, and mileage if driving your own vehicle.
What to expect while serving
- Most King County District Court jury trials are completed within 1 week. You will need to report for jury service every day until the judge releases you.
- You should be present during court hours. Regular court hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, with a lunch break. If you are selected for a trial, court staff will tell you if there are any schedule changes.
- You can bring reading materials or a laptop. Our courthouse locations have wi-fi access. Remember that you and anything you carry will be screened when you pass through courthouse security.
- We do not provide childcare.
If you have an emergency
If an emergency occurs —such as a sudden illness, accident, or death in the family—please contact the courthouse location you were summoned to for service. Their information is provided in the reporting instructions e-mail you received the week prior to your start date.
Deferring jury service or requesting to be excused
The United States Constitution and Washington State Constitution guarantee the right to trial by jury. If you are unable to fulfill your jury service at the time you were summoned, you may request to reschedule or to be excused from jury service.
The random jury selection process prevents people from knowing in advance what trial or even what type of trial they might be selected for. The court cannot excuse you as a potential juror because of what you do for a living, your family makeup, or events in your past. When you get to a courtroom, the judge might excuse you from a specific case.
If you received a summons addressed to a deceased person
Please write “Return to sender. Deceased” on the postcard and return it to the Court via U.S. Mail. You can also email the jury staff at kcdcjury@kingcounty.gov.
Deferring (rescheduling) your service
Your jury assignment might arrive at a time that is inconvenient for you, whether because of travel, childcare, work, or school schedule or medical appointments. To reschedule your jury summons to a later term, go to the “Deferral” tab on the Juror Portal.
Most King County District Court jury trials are completed in 1 week or less, or until dismissed by a judge.
You may defer jury service twice within a 12-month period starting from the date of your first summons. You must make your request to reschedule before your assigned service date. You will not be able to reschedule your service to another courthouse location.
If the date you deferred your service to is less than 4 weeks after the date you were originally scheduled to start jury service, you might not receive a new summons postcard in the mail. You can confirm your new start date via the Juror Portal. Be sure to bring the original summons postcard with you on the first day of your jury service.
Reschedule your jury service in the Juror Portal
Requesting to be excused from service
You may request to be excused from jury duty due to hardship or extreme inconvenience. Hardship implies circumstances that make it “unfair” for you to serve. Your request must provide enough information to enable the court to make an informed decision. You will have the opportunity to provide supplemental documentation in the Juror Portal. Unless you are notified by the Court that you have been excused, you must report for jury duty as instructed per the jury hotline.
If you served on any jury in the past 12 months
You may request to be excused from King County District Court jury service in the Juror Portal. Thank you for serving, wherever you served!
Request to be excused in the Juror Portal
If you are 80 years old or older
A person who is 80 years of age or older may request to be excused from jury service if they attest that they are unable to serve due to health reasons, and the court must grant the request.
Submit your request if you are 80 years or older
King County District Court Jury Services
516 3rd Ave, W-1034
Seattle, WA 98104
Payment for jury service
State law does not require employers to pay employees while they are serving as jurors. However, many employers, including state and local government agencies, pay employees for at least part, if not all, of the time spent on jury service.
All employers must provide a leave of absence for employees to serve (RCW 2.36.165).
Jurors earn $10 per day of service. You also will receive compensation for your mileage, bus fare, or ferry fees, but not for any other kind of transportation.
If you are receiving unemployment benefits
The compensation you receive for jury service must be reported and deducted from your unemployment benefits. For more information, visit the Washington State Employment Security Department.
Get proof you served
District Court can provide you a letter after you have completed your service.
You may:
- Request a service letter at the courthouse location before you leave.
- Visit the Juror Portal to print a letter.
- Email KCDCJury@kingcounty.gov with your request.
About jury service
You do not need special knowledge or ability to serve on a jury. Your job is to listen to all the evidence presented at trial, then determine the facts. It is enough that you keep an open mind, use common sense, concentrate on the evidence presented, and be fair and honest.
Understand unconscious bias video
How you were chosen for jury service
Your name was randomly picked from names obtained from voter registration, drivers' license, and "identicard" records. Every year the Administrative Office for the Courts in Olympia creates a new list of names for every court in King County. It is possible that you will be summoned by 1 or more courts in the same year or over several years.
Volunteering
You cannot volunteer for jury service. Thank you for your interest in volunteering, but state law only allows jurors to serve based on being summoned. The court relies on a process that ensures a random selection of jurors. This means that some residents could be called more than once, while others might never receive a summons.
If you are a Pierce County resident
King County District Court is contracted to serve as the municipal court for various cities, some of which straddle the county line between King and Pierce Counties (i.e., Cities of Auburn and Pacific). Per the Washington State Constitution, King County District Court may be required to summon jurors from Pierce County for specific jury trials.