Louisiana Jury Duty Laws: Pay, Exemptions and Employer Rules

Louisiana sets juror qualifications for criminal trials in Code of Criminal Procedure article 401, and R.S. 13:3041(B) applies the same list to civil juries with one exception. Anyone 70 or older may decline to serve under the Louisiana Constitution, art. V, sec. 33(B).

State law sets juror pay at $25 a day in criminal cases and $50 a day in civil cases, plus mileage (R.S. 13:3049). Your employer cannot fire you over jury service if you give notice, and a regularly employed worker gets up to one day of paid leave (R.S. 23:965).

Information last verified on October 6, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers jury service in Louisiana state courts, which is run parish by parish through the district courts. A summons from a U.S. District Court in Louisiana follows federal law, summarized on our jury duty laws by state hub.

Do you have to go? The short answer

Yes, unless you are not qualified, you claim an exemption the law gives you, the court excuses you, or you postpone. Louisiana's civil jury statute states the policy that "all qualified citizens have an obligation to serve on petit juries when summoned by the courts of this state, unless excused" (R.S. 13:3041(A)).

Summonses, excuses and postponements are handled locally by each parish's clerk of court or jury office, so the instructions on your summons control. To see which category might fit your situation before you contact the court, try our jury duty exemption checker.

Who can serve on a jury in Louisiana

The constitution sets the baseline: "A citizen of the state who has reached the age of majority is eligible to serve as a juror within the parish in which he is domiciled. The legislature may provide additional qualifications" (La. Const. art. V, sec. 33(A)).

The legislature added its list in C.Cr.P. art. 401(A). To serve, a person must:

1. Be a citizen of the United States and of Louisiana who has lived in the parish of service for at least one year immediately before jury service.
2. Be at least 18.
3. Be able to read, write and speak English, with sufficient knowledge of the language.
4. Not be under interdiction or incapable of serving because of a mental or physical infirmity. The article adds that "no person shall be deemed incompetent solely because of the loss of hearing in any degree."
5. Not be "under indictment, incarcerated under an order of imprisonment, or on probation or parole for a felony offense within the five-year period immediately preceding the person's jury service."
6. Not have been convicted at any time of a felony crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) or a felony sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541.

Civil juries follow the same list, minus one bar

Under R.S. 13:3041(B), "The qualifications of a juror in any civil case are as required by Code of Criminal Procedure Article 401, except that the prohibition against persons convicted of a crime of violence or a sex offense shall not apply to civil jurors." The five-year felony rule in item 5 is not carved out, so it applies to civil jurors too.

Criminal convictions and the 2026 change

Item 6 is new. It was added by 2026 House Bill 108, which became Act No. 419 and took effect August 1, 2026. The same act wrote the civil-jury carve-out into R.S. 13:3041(B). Code compilations dated before August 2026 may not show it.

For other felonies, the jury article looks back five years from your service date, as quoted in item 5. For a felony crime of violence or a felony sex offense, the article says "at any time" and applies to criminal juries. The Louisiana Constitution says "Full rights of citizenship shall be restored upon termination of state and federal supervision following conviction for any offense" (art. I, sec. 20). We did not find a source settling how that provision, or a pardon, interacts with the jury article, so if you have a felony record and a summons, ask the jury office on the summons or a Louisiana lawyer how the rules apply to you.

Exemptions, excuses and postponements in Louisiana

Louisiana leaves most exemptions to the state Supreme Court. Article 403 of the Code of Criminal Procedure says exemptions are as provided by rules of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the constitution directs the Supreme Court to "provide by rule for other grounds for the exemption of jurors" (art. V, sec. 33(B)).

Supreme Court Rule XXV tells each jury commission to leave out of, and delete from, the general venire anyone who served as a grand or petit juror in a criminal case, a trial juror in a civil case, or in a central jury pool during the two years immediately before being selected. A district court may stretch that period to four years by local rule. If your name is drawn anyway, the rule says you "may claim an exemption from jury service or may waive the exemption." Ask the jury office on your summons whether its district uses the two-year or four-year period and which other exemptions it applies.

Age 70 and older

The constitution reads: "Persons who are seventy years of age or older shall be exempt from jury service and may decline to serve as jurors, but may elect to serve as jurors if they meet the other qualifications for service as jurors" (art. V, sec. 33(B)).

That is the only age-out in the sections reviewed for this page (art. 401 and 403 and R.S. 13:3041 through 13:3049.2). There is no upper age limit that disqualifies a juror. Because the exemption is yours to claim, contact the jury office if you want to decline; East Baton Rouge Parish's jury office says, "If you are seventy (70) years of age or older, you may opt out of service."

Hardship and medical excuses

Louisiana's statute book still prints an older section, R.S. 13:3042, that set out a hardship and medical waiver process, but the official page marks it as superseded by Supreme Court Rule 25. Do not rely on its text as current law.

The one statutory hardship route we confirmed, R.S. 13:3044(C), lets the district court excuse a person "other than petit jury service" for undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, so it mainly affects grand jury and pool placement. For a trial (petit) jury summons, ask the jury office how it handles hardship requests.

East Baton Rouge Parish's jury office, for example, says "everyone who is qualified must participate in jury duty, unless the service would result in undue hardship," and that the legislature no longer allows occupational exemptions. That parish also says it excuses on request people 70 or older, people who served in the past two years, and full-time college students who send enrollment verification from the registrar. The student excuse is an East Baton Rouge practice, not a statewide rule.

Military service members

The Louisiana jury sections reviewed for this page do not set out a separate military or National Guard category, so a service member would normally use a postponement or ask the jury office. Separately, federal law says an active-duty member of the armed forces may not be required to serve on a state or local jury if the member's branch Secretary determines that service would unreasonably interfere with military duties or adversely affect unit readiness, and that determination is conclusive (10 U.S.C. § 982). Ask your command whether that applies to you.

Postponing jury service

Under R.S. 13:3042.1(A), "Individuals scheduled to appear for petit jury service have the right to postpone the date of their initial appearance for jury service one time only." You ask by appearing in person or by contacting the clerk by telephone, email or in writing, and you fix a date certain no more than six months after the original date, on a day the court is in session.

A second postponement needs approval from a judicial officer, and only for an extreme emergency that could not have been anticipated when the first was granted, such as a death in the family, a sudden grave illness, or a natural disaster or national emergency in which you are personally involved. Before a second postponement is granted, you must again fix a date certain within six months, on a day the court is in session (R.S. 13:3042.1(B)). Local practice can be tighter: East Baton Rouge Parish says its postponements must fall within 90 days.

How much does jury duty pay in Louisiana?

R.S. 13:3049 sets the statewide figures. For criminal-case jurors, the district judges of each judicial district, sitting en banc, fix compensation and mileage subject to approval by the parish governing authority, and payment comes from a special costs-of-court fund. Expect your parish's figure to be on your summons.

For criminal cases, the statute says "The compensation shall be twenty-five dollars for each day of attendance in court," and only one mileage charge is allowed each way. In civil cases, the jurors are paid out of the jury deposit that the party who asked for a jury must post.

East Baton Rouge Parish's jury office says, "Jurors will be paid $12 per day for each day of attendance, plus 16 cents per mile to and from the courthouse. Once the juror is seated, payment then increases to $25 per day." Those figures may predate Act 536 of 2026, which took effect August 1, 2026 and set criminal-juror mileage at an amount equal to the rate in effect for state officials instead of a minimum of 16 cents a mile. The statute sets criminal-juror pay at $25 for each day of attendance in court. Check the figure on your summons.

Donating your juror pay

Any juror in a Louisiana judicial district court may choose to donate the entire per diem to the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, and the clerk must offer that option on a voluntary basis (R.S. 13:3049.2).

Louisiana employer rules for jury duty

Your job is protected if you give notice

R.S. 23:965(A)(1) says "No employer shall discharge or otherwise subject to any adverse employment action, without cause, any employee called to serve or presently serving any jury duty." It also bars any rule or policy providing for discharge of an employee called to serve on a grand jury or a criminal or civil trial jury.

The protection comes with a condition: you must notify your employer "of such summons within a reasonable period of time after receipt of a summons and prior to his or her appearance for jury duty." Tell your employer as soon as the summons arrives, and keep a copy of what you sent.

One day of paid leave

Under R.S. 23:965(B)(1), "Any person who is regularly employed in the state of Louisiana shall, upon call or subpoena to serve on a state petit or grand jury, or central jury pool, be granted a leave of absence by his employer, of up to one day, for that period of time required for such jury duty. Such leave of absence shall be granted without loss of wages, or sick, emergency, or personal leave or any other benefit."

The paid-leave guarantee stops at one day. Beyond that, Louisiana's jury statute does not require private employers to keep paying you, and East Baton Rouge Parish's jury office says the same about employers and the full term. Public employees have separate rules: a city or parish school board employee gets leave for the time required for jury duty without loss of salary, with the school board paying the difference between regular salary and juror pay (R.S. 17:1210). The Division of Administration's civil leave policy, restating Civil Service Rule 11.23, gives its employees time off for jury duty without loss of pay, annual leave or sick leave. Other state and local government employees should check their own leave rules. The statute does not define "regularly employed."

Penalties for employers

Section 23:965 does not say who enforces it and does not state a filing deadline; Louisiana's general limitations rules may set one, so talk to a Louisiana employment lawyer promptly if you were disciplined or fired over jury service. For how this fits with other limits on firing, see our page on Louisiana at-will employment laws.

What happens if you miss jury duty in Louisiana

A summoned juror must attend. Under R.S. 13:3049(A), "The district judge may enforce the attendance of any juror by imposing a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment in the parish jail for not more than three days, or both, in his discretion, for each violation."

Jefferson Parish (the 24th Judicial District) has its own rule: "After proof of actual notice, willful failure to attend shall constitute contempt of court and shall be punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars for each violation" (R.S. 13:3049.1(A)). Statewide, the sheriff's return of service on a summons is treated as prima facie correct and can be the basis for citing a person for contempt for failing to appear (R.S. 13:3044(B)(5)(c)).

If you missed your date, call the jury office on your summons right away. In East Baton Rouge Parish, the jury office says you are not free from your obligation to appear "unless you have received written verification from the Jury Management Office that your reason has been accepted."

How long jury duty lasts in Louisiana

The statutes reviewed for this page do not set a statewide term length; it is set locally. East Baton Rouge Parish says "The normal term of service is 5 days, although trials may be longer or shorter depending upon the facts of the case," and that grand jurors there serve one year, usually meeting one day a week.

In districts with more than one parish, civil jurors are drawn by the week (R.S. 13:3047), and a juror seated on a case serves until verdict or discharge. Supreme Court Rule XXV keeps anyone who served as a juror in the two years before selection (four years where a district court's local rule extends it) out of the venire, and lets that person claim an exemption if summoned anyway.

How to respond to a Louisiana jury summons

We did not find a statewide juror portal or statewide excuse-request page in our search; each parish's clerk of court or jury commission runs the process. The steps that apply statewide:

1. Tell your employer about the summons within a reasonable time after you receive it and before you appear (R.S. 23:965(A)(1)).
2. If you are 70 or older and want to decline, tell the jury office (La. Const. art. V, sec. 33(B)).
3. If you need a later date, contact the clerk in person, by phone, email or in writing and fix a date certain within six months (R.S. 13:3042.1).
4. For any other excuse, follow the instructions on your summons, and treat your report date as firm until the court confirms its decision.

East Baton Rouge Parish runs an online juror system, i-Juror. Its jury office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and jurors may call (225) 389-4778. That parish draws names from the parish voter list and licensed driver records.

Jury duty scams target people across the country. Our guide to government impersonation scams explains how these schemes work, and our page on Louisiana scam and fraud laws covers where to report one.

Disclaimer: This page is general legal information about Louisiana jury service, not legal advice. The court that summoned you decides every exemption, excuse and postponement request. Information verified October 6, 2026. For questions about your summons, contact the jury office listed on it; for an employment dispute, consult a lawyer licensed in Louisiana.

Related pages

• Jury duty laws by state
• Louisiana at-will employment laws
• Louisiana court records
• Louisiana scam and fraud laws

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my employer have to pay me for jury duty in Louisiana?

For one day. Under La. R.S. 23:965(B)(1), a regularly employed worker gets up to one day of leave for state jury service without loss of wages or leave. The jury statute does not require private employers to pay beyond that day; a city or parish school board employee does not lose salary, with the board paying the difference over juror pay (R.S. 17:1210), and a Division of Administration policy restating Civil Service Rule 11.23 gives its employees jury time off without loss of pay. Other public employees should check their own leave rules.

How much does jury duty pay in Louisiana?

R.S. 13:3049 sets $25 per day of attendance for criminal-case jurors and $50 per day for civil-case jurors, plus mileage at the state-official rate. For criminal cases, district judges fix the local rate with parish approval. East Baton Rouge Parish's jury office still lists $12 a day until a juror is seated, then $25, so check the figure on your summons.

Can I get out of jury duty in Louisiana if I am over 70?

Yes, if you choose to. The Louisiana Constitution, art. V, sec. 33(B), makes people 70 or older exempt and lets them decline, though they may still elect to serve. Tell the jury office on your summons.

Can I be fired for jury duty in Louisiana?

Not without cause, if you notified your employer within a reasonable time after receiving the summons and before appearing (R.S. 23:965(A)(1)). An employer that fires a juror must reinstate the employee and faces a fine of $100 to $1,000 per employee.

Can I postpone jury duty in Louisiana?

Yes, once as of right for petit jury service, to a date certain no more than six months after the original date (R.S. 13:3042.1(A)). A second postponement needs a judicial officer and an unforeseeable extreme emergency such as a death in the family.

What happens if I miss jury duty in Louisiana?

A district judge may impose a fine of up to $50, up to three days in parish jail, or both, for each violation (R.S. 13:3049(A)). In Jefferson Parish, willful failure to attend after actual notice is contempt with a $100 fine per violation (R.S. 13:3049.1(A)).

Can a felon serve on a jury in Louisiana?

Under C.Cr.P. art. 401(A)(5), a person under indictment, incarcerated, or on probation or parole for a felony within the five years before service is not qualified. Since August 1, 2026, art. 401(A)(6) also bars anyone ever convicted of a felony crime of violence or felony sex offense from criminal juries, but not civil juries (R.S. 13:3041(B)).