If you have received a summons for jury duty you may visit our website at Jury Web to defer the date of your jury duty or to request an excusal if you have not already done so.

Jurors for County and Circuit Court are selected from a database provided to the Clerk of Circuit Court by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Jurors are generally summoned three weeks prior to jury duty.

A juror must be 18 years of age, a U.S. citizen, a legal resident of Florida and of Lake County, and possess a driver's license or identification issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Florida law allows certain exemptions from jury duty. These include:

• A person 70 years of age or older.
• One who has served within a year.
• A parent not employed full time and who has custody of a child under 6 years of age.
• A full-time law enforcement officer or investigator.
• One responsible for the care of a person who is mentally or physically unable to care for himself or herself.

Jury selection is scheduled every Monday morning, unless it is a holiday, at the Lake County Judicial Center. Jury duty lasts for one day or for the length of the trial unless the court excuses you.

If your employer does not continue to pay your usual wages while you serve on jury duty, or if you do not work for pay, Florida law states that you will receive $15.00 per day. If your employer continues to pay your usual wages, you will receive no pay for the first three days of jury duty. After serving three days, all jurors will receive $30.00 per day. There is no added pay for mileage.

Please call prior to reporting for jury duty because (1) cases frequently settle out of court before their trial dates, and (2) often the court does not need as many jurors as it has originally summoned. To find out if you must still report for jury duty, call 742-4162 the day before or the weekend before you must come to court. This is a recorded message that will tell you if you need to report as indicated on your summons. Please have your Group Number, which is located above your report date on your Jury Summons.

If you are instructed to report for jury duty, you may bring reading or writing material to fill this time. Delays often occur between processing jurors and assigning them to trials. NO NEWSPAPERS ARE ALLOWED. You may bring snacks. Beverages are available for purchase.

Please dress appropriately. Do not wear beach attire or shorts. You may wish to bring a jacket or sweater because courtrooms are air conditioned.

Parking is located directly in front of the Lake County Judicial Center at 550 West Main Street, Tavares. Overflow parking is available at the Lake County Detention Center.

For additional information, refer to these topics:

• Office Location and Phone Number
• Public Parking Map