getting your normal pay while serving. If you're one of the fortunate ones whose employer will accommodate you as such, go for it! Unfortunately not all employers are that accommodating. Be sure to let your boss know as soon as you get your summons! Hell I love this. Who the hell said anything about not doing your duty? If you haven't noticed my freedoms are being cut every freaking day. If the system is failing for me, I should have the ability to fail for the system. But, legitimately, how would you like to bust your ass off for 50 weeks, plan a one week trip upstate to visit your friend you haven't seen in years, and then a jury duty summons comes. So, you're not out of state, you have a car and you aren't taking care of 3 elderly persons. Legally, you can't get out of it, but really I say screw the system in this case and a lot of others. Take a paralegal/legal assistant class. Any old one will do, and they usually meet at community colleges at night so they don't get in the way of a day job. Make sure you fill out a FAFSA, even if you don't get or aren't eligible for any aid. The FAFSA guarantees your name and SSN are attached to that class and the paralegal program. In Virginia, you likely won't even get another jury summons. They simply do not want people who know the law on juries.