<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=33u6Fx_0vvonGto00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=33u6Fx_0vvonGto00" width="980" height="653" ><figcaption>Canva</figcaption></figure>I was recently sent an interesting piece of mail that I had never seen before in my 33 years of life. Sometime in late August, I got my first potential jury summons!I have family members, co-workers, and friends who have had to go to a courthouse and appear for jury duty, and to be honest, I was kind of surprised it took this long for me to get a letter like this. I then found out that there are quite a few people I know in their 30s or 40s who have never once been summoned for jury duty. According to <a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/21273-americans-jury-duty#:~:text=A%20similar%20number%20of%20people,duty%20in%20the%20first%20place.">YouGov Today</a>, about one-third of Americans have never been summoned for jury duty.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2DTWVi_0vvonGto00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2DTWVi_0vvonGto00" width="1250" height="833" ><figcaption>Unsplash - Tingey Injury Law Firm</figcaption></figure>If you've never received a jury summons in the mail, what I received was something that looked the size of a postcard. On it were directions sending me to a website where I had to answer a variety of questions like; do you understand English, can you receive and evaluate information, what is your job, have you been convicted of a crime, etc.After completing this small questionnaire, I was given instructions to call a number, at a certain time, on a few different dates. To make a long story short, I ended up receiving a text from the courthouse saying I did not have to appear at the courthouse, I would not be part of the jury, and I didn't have to call back on any of the other dates. I wonder if having a job in the media got me out of this one...<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3CFn6V_0vvonGto00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3CFn6V_0vvonGto00" width="1250" height="833" ><figcaption>Unsplash - Sebastian Pichler</figcaption></figure>If I was asked to be part of the jury, of course, I would've gone. I think it's important that Americans show up to be part of a jury if they are asked to do so. That is part of our job of being patriots. Not only that...it's required by law to appear when asked.I did have a question floating in the back of my mind that wondered "What happens when someone just skips jury duty or what happens if they can't attend?"<h2>Missing or Skipping Jury Duty</h2>It's important to remember that not being able to attend jury duty because of a medical emergency or a family emergency is completely different than blowing it off. When I filled out my questionnaire, it did ask if there were dates I would not be able to attend and the reason why.The questionnaire also asked about medical reasons why I wouldn't be able to attend jury duty or if there were family members who required my attention regularly. For example, if you're having some kind of surgery or medical appointment, those reasons would be valid for missing certain dates.If you are summoned to appear as a juror and skip it, you could be talking to a judge shortly after.According to the <a href="https://www.iasd.uscourts.gov/jury-faq#:~:text=Is%20reporting%20and%20serving%20as,held%20in%20contempt%20of%20court.">US. District Court</a>, "If you receive a summons to appear you are required to report for jury service. If you fail to report for service, you may be served with an order to appear before a judge and be held in contempt of court. This can result in the court imposing a fine, community service, and imprisonment."Skipping jury duty will not be worth it, in the long run. Some people think it might be fun or exciting to be part of a jury and I am not one of them. There are plenty of other things I'd rather do than sit in a courthouse for an entire day or possibly longer. At the same time, it's our job as American citizens to report when asked and I would've done so, regardless of not wanting to be there.If you receive a jury summons, it's not worth ignoring it or pretending you didn't see it and throwing it in the garbage.<h2>Most Common Scams Iowans Fall Victim To</h2>It seems like scammers are getting smarter and smarter every year. In 2023, thousands of Iowans fell victim to fraud. Here are the top ten scams that Iowans fell for.</div></body>

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What Happens if You Skip Jury Duty in Iowa?

I was recently sent an interesting piece of mail that I had never seen before in my 33 years of life. Sometime in late August, I got my first potential jury summons!. I have family members, co-workers, and friends who have had to go to a courthouse and appear for jury duty, and to be honest, I was kind of surprised it took this long for me to get a letter like this. I then found out that there are quite a few people I know in their 30s or 40s who have never once been summoned for jury duty. According to YouGov Today, about one-third of Americans have never been summoned for jury duty.