<p>Typically speaking, you can get a student exemption from jury duty. I've tried checking state laws online for such a thing, but can't quite find anything:</p>
<p>Texas's state laws state that you can claim exemption if you're enrolled and in actual attendance of a college. What does the "actual attendance" mean? What if you're enrolled in only online courses? </p>
<p>I understand collegeconfidential isn't the place for legal advice, but I want to know what precedence there is for this. I'll call my local office about this Monday and ask as well.</p>
<p>Not sure about the online only. I would be surprised if it didn’t count since those are flexible with time of day. I know when I got summoned for jury duty (Indiana) I sent a copy of my schedule with my name and student ID number on it. </p>
<p>You can ask to reschedule for a time when you’re on vacation.</p>
<p>Frankly, jury duty usually doesn’t take very long (if your state has a one day/one trial system, it’s likely you’ll only have to be there for a few hours), it can be interesting, and is part of our responsibility as citizens.</p>
<p>I agree with @stradmom. I had to take a copy of my daughter’s registration to the court when she was summoned for jury duty during Fall semester. She was excused temporarily but allowed to choose a week when she could complete this responsibility. </p>
<p>One of the court clerks suggested she choose the week during the Christmas holiday.</p>
<p>What if the student goes OOS for education? It is not practical to fly home to complete the responsibility - It is not only the time (it could take almost a whole day traveling one way) but also the cost.</p>
<p>Presumably, this would only occur if the student keeps his/her voter registration and driver’s license / state ID address at his/her parents’ house (since jury calls lists tend to come from these sources).</p>
<p>Seems like another case of “where is the student really a resident?”, whose answer may not necessarily be the same for all contexts (jury summons, voting, driver’s license, in-state tuition).</p>
<p>Just as an update, maybe for others who come to the same bridge later on: I did manage to claim an exemption despite being online-only. My area’s jury duty exemption laws are somewhat vague and don’t really specify what kind of student you have to be. I even called the court clerk and asked her about it and she said she wasn’t aware of any restrictions other than just be a student actively enrolled in college.</p>
<p>Some of the surrounding areas like College Station have laws which state you have to be a full-time student. Others explicitly say that online-only students aren’t exempt unless the online class has a meeting time at the same time your summons is.</p>