Oklahoma Jury Duty Laws (2026): Pay, Exemptions and Employer Rules

Oklahoma sets the rules for state-court jury service in Title 38 of the Oklahoma Statutes, with qualifications, exemptions and excusals gathered in 38 O.S. § 28. Jurors are paid $50 for each day's attendance plus mileage (28 O.S. § 86), up from $20 before November 1, 2023.

Your employer may not fire you or take other adverse action over jury service if you give reasonable notice of the summons before you appear (38 O.S. § 34), but the statute does not require an employer to pay your wages unless you choose to use paid leave. A person over 70 cannot be compelled to serve, and in practice you claim that by calling the jury clerk.

Information last verified on October 7, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers jury service in Oklahoma state courts, run county by county through each district court and court clerk. A summons from one of Oklahoma's U.S. District Courts 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 under § 28, you fall in a group that cannot be compelled to serve, you claim an exemption, or the court excuses you or postpones your service. A summons is mailed at least 10 days before your appearance date (38 O.S. § 23).

Every Oklahoma juror has one guaranteed postponement, so if the date is bad, use it before the date passes. To see which category might fit your situation, try our jury duty exemption checker.

Who can serve on a jury in Oklahoma

Under § 28(B), "All citizens of the United States, residing in this state, having the qualifications of electors of this state, are competent jurors to serve on all grand and petit juries within their counties." Names are drawn from a list, provided each year by the Commissioner of Public Safety, of county residents 18 or older who hold a current driver license or state identification license (38 O.S. § 18). The Tulsa County District Court's juror page says a person under 18 or not a citizen cannot serve.

What you tell the court about yourself for this purpose "shall be used exclusively for purposes of determining jury disqualifications or excusals" (§ 28(G)).

Who is not qualified

Section 28(C) lists people who are not qualified to serve:

• Justices of the Supreme Court or the Court of Civil Appeals;
• judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals or the district court;
• sheriffs or deputy sheriffs;
• municipal or state law enforcement officers employed in a county with a population of 255,000 or more;
• federal law enforcement officers;
• licensed attorneys engaged in the practice of law;
• people convicted of a felony or who served a felony prison term, unless fully restored to civil rights (see below); and
• legislators during a session or when involved in state business.

Jailers, and municipal or state law enforcement officers in a county with fewer than 255,000 people, may serve on noncriminal cases only (§ 28(D)).

Felony convictions

Section 28(C)(7) disqualifies "Persons who have been convicted of any felony or who have served a term of imprisonment in any penitentiary, state or federal, for the commission of a felony; provided, any such citizen convicted, who has been fully restored to his or her civil rights, shall be eligible to serve as a juror."

The jury statute does not define "fully restored." Oklahoma's voter-registration law lets a person with a felony conviction register once the sentence is served, but no statute we opened says that by itself restores eligibility for jury service. Oklahoma's Court of Criminal Appeals has said that finishing a sentence does not by itself restore every civil right, and that a felony conviction remains grounds to be excused for cause from a criminal jury even if rights were restored (Davis v. State, 2011 OK CR 29; 22 O.S. § 658). If you have a felony conviction, ask the court clerk on your summons how the rule applies to you.

Exemptions, excuses and postponements in Oklahoma

A court clerk or trial court administrator, under a judge's supervision, may be authorized to decide excusals, exemptions, disqualifications, postponements and deferrals, but hardship requests must be decided as § 28(B)(2) provides, by a judge or authorized judicial personnel (§ 28(F)).

Over age 70

Section 28(B) provides that "persons over seventy (70) years of age ... shall not be compelled to serve as jurors in this state." That means you cannot be forced to serve, not that you are removed from the list. A person over 70 remains a competent juror who may choose to serve. Oklahoma County's clerk applies it to anyone 70 or older.

County clerks treat it as something you claim. The Oklahoma County page says: "if you are 70 years of age or more and wish to be excused from jury service, you may be excused, by state law, by telephoning the Jury Clerk at 405-713-1102, prior to the reporting time to assert your exemption." The Tulsa County Court Clerk likewise says "you also must call the Jury Clerk ... to claim your exemption."

Medical excusals

Under § 28(B)(1), the court may excuse a person who "has a mental or physical condition that causes him or her to be incapable of performing jury service." You or your personal representative must give the court documentation "from a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice medicine verifying that a mental or physical condition renders the person unfit for jury service for a period of up to twenty-four (24) months." Physician assistants and APRNs were added by Laws 2023, ch. 7 (HB 1005), effective November 1, 2023.

After two years, an excused person becomes eligible again, unless the judge excused them permanently because the grounds are "of a permanent nature."

Hardship excusals

A judge may excuse you for undue or extreme physical or financial hardship to you or a person under your care. The statute limits hardship to three situations: having to abandon a person in your personal care with no appropriate substitute caregiver; costs with a substantial adverse impact on necessary daily living expenses for you or those you principally support; or physical hardship that would result in illness or disease (§ 28(B)(2)).

The statute is strict about proof: "Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not exist solely based on the fact that a prospective juror will be required to be absent from his or her place of employment." You must provide documentation, "such as, but not limited to, federal and state income tax returns, medical statements from licensed physicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, and similar documents," and "Failure to provide satisfactory documentation shall result in a denial of the request to be excused." You must get a ruling no later than your scheduled appearance date. The Tulsa County Court Clerk adds that "Stay at home parenting or self-employment typically are not sufficient reason to excuse jury service."

Military service

Under § 28(E), "Upon his or her request, a person shall be exempt from service as a juror if the person is: 1. A member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is serving on active duty during a time of war or declared hostilities." Separately, federal law lets a branch Secretary exempt an active-duty service member from a state or local jury if service "would unreasonably interfere with the performance of the member's military duties" or "would adversely affect the readiness" of the member's unit (10 U.S.C. § 982); that is a determination by the Secretary, not an automatic exemption.

Members of the Oklahoma State Guard "shall, during his or her service therein, be exempt from service upon any posse comitatus and from jury duty" (44 O.S. § 248). The section does not say whether you must ask. The State Guard is separate from the Oklahoma National Guard; we found no National Guard jury exemption in Oklahoma's militia title (Title 44), so Guard members should raise their service with the court clerk; members on federal active duty can rely on the rules above. Officers on the Governor's honorary staff are not subject to jury duty during their service (44 O.S. § 6).

Students

Oklahoma has no statutory student excuse, but students are protected: "No school, college, university, or other educational institution may take or permit to be taken any adverse academic action against a student because of the student's service on a grand, multicounty grand, or petit jury" (38 O.S. § 37). The section states no remedy or penalty.

Postponing your service

Under 38 O.S. § 28.1, "Individuals scheduled to appear for jury service have the right to postpone the date of their initial appearance for jury service one time only. When requested, postponements shall be granted." To get it, you must not have had a postponement before, must appear in person or contact the court clerk by phone, email or in writing, and must fix a date certain no more than six months after your original date, on which court is in session.

A second postponement can be granted only by a judicial officer, for an extreme emergency that could not have been anticipated, such as a death in the family, a sudden grave illness, or a natural disaster or national emergency, again to a date within six months. If you work for an employer with five or fewer full-time employees and a coworker was already summoned for the same period, "A court shall automatically postpone and reschedule" your service, without using up your own postponement (§ 34(D)).

How much does jury duty pay in Oklahoma?

Section 86(A) reads: "Jurors shall be paid the following fees out of the local court fund: 1. For each day's attendance before any court of record, Fifty Dollars ($50.00); and 2. For mileage going to and returning from jury service each day, pursuant to the provisions of the State Travel Reimbursement Act." The fee is the same statewide. The juror statute sets no per-mile figure; the travel act caps private-vehicle reimbursement at the IRS standard business rate (74 O.S. § 500.4(C)), so ask your county what it pays. Tulsa County says mileage is calculated from your home zip code to the courthouse.

The Lengthy Trial Fund is discretionary ("The court may pay"), limited to the difference between the state jury fee and your actual earnings minus anything your employer pays, and requires a form with employer verification. It applies to petit jury service of more than 10 days.

The district court's Court Fund Board may contract for or reimburse juror parking, and parking so provided replaces any parking reimbursement (§ 86(B)). Tulsa County jurors can park at the Civic Center Parkade for a fee; Oklahoma County says parking is available at nearby facilities. A juror who is excused stops being paid from the day of the excusal (§ 86(C)).

Oklahoma employer rules for jury duty

Your job is protected, if you give notice

Under § 34(A), "Any person who is summoned to serve as a juror and who notifies his or her 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 may not be terminated, removed or otherwise subject to any adverse employment action as a result of such service." The protection depends on that notice, so tell your employer promptly after the summons arrives and before you report. The subsection states no minimum employer size.

No forced use of leave

"An employee may not be required or requested to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process, or time spent actually serving on a jury" (§ 34(B)). The section does not require an employer to provide leave to employees who do not otherwise have it, and it contains no rule on night shifts.

Does your employer have to pay you?

Oklahoma's jury statute does not require it. Section 34(C) says: "The provisions of this section shall not require an employer to pay an employee wages for the time the employee is absent from employment for jury duty unless the employee uses paid leave for that purpose. It shall be the decision of the employee whether to use paid leave or take leave without pay for absence from employment for jury duty." Oklahoma County's juror page advises: "Ask your employer what its policy is on juror pay."

Public-school teachers are an exception: Oklahoma law requires each school district to grant a teacher leave for jury service and pay the full, current contract salary, though the district may deduct the juror fee from that salary (70 O.S. § 6-104(C)). Other state, school and local government employees should check their own leave rules. A state personnel rule on jury leave for state employees appears to exist (OAC 260:25-15-46), but we could not open its text on an official source, so we do not state what it provides; ask your agency's human resources office.

If your employer violates the law

Firing, causing the discharge of, taking other adverse action against, or requiring an employee to use leave because of jury service is a misdemeanor punishable on conviction by a fine of up to $5,000 (§ 34(C)).

It also gives you a civil claim. Under 38 O.S. § 35, the employer "shall be liable to the employee in a civil action at law for both actual and exemplary damages. Damages shall include all pecuniary losses suffered including, but not limited to, lost earnings, both past and future, the value of lost leave, mental anguish and all reasonable damages incurred in obtaining other suitable employment." Section 35 does not state a filing deadline or provide for attorney fees. Oklahoma's general limitations statute sets two- and three-year deadlines for statutory and injury claims without naming this one (12 O.S. § 95(A)), so talk to an Oklahoma employment lawyer promptly. For how this fits with other limits on firing, see our page on Oklahoma at-will employment laws.

What happens if you miss jury duty in Oklahoma

Under 21 O.S. § 567B, "An individual who fails to appear in person on the date scheduled for jury service and who has failed to obtain a postponement in compliance with the provisions for requesting a postponement ... shall be in indirect contempt of court and shall be punished by the imposition of a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)." The same applies if you miss the new date set after a postponement.

The statute softens this in two ways. "The prospective juror may be excused from paying sanctions for good cause shown or in the interests of justice." And "In addition to or in lieu of the fine, the court may order that the prospective juror complete a period of community service for a period no less than if the prospective juror would have completed jury service." Being excused from the sanction is not the same as being excused from serving.

The Tulsa County District Court tells a person who missed jury service to write the Jury Clerk with their Jury ID. In any county, contact the court clerk on your summons right away. We did not find a separate Title 38 penalty for failing to return a juror questionnaire.

How long jury duty lasts in Oklahoma

Oklahoma keeps service short. Under 38 O.S. § 21, "No person may be required to render service as a petit juror for more than one (1) day in any one calendar year unless he or she is selected to serve in a trial or is under consideration to serve in a trial and such consideration covers a period of two (2) or more days. Once selected, a juror shall serve on the jury for the duration of the trial unless excused by the presiding judge."

In districts where the chief judge has ordered a trailing docket system, the limit is five days in a calendar year, unless you are selected or under consideration for a trial covering five or more days (38 O.S. § 23.1(E)). Oklahoma County's page says typical service there is 2 to 3 days. Separately, anyone who served as a grand or petit juror during the last five calendar years cannot be compelled to serve again (§ 28(B)).

How to respond to an Oklahoma jury summons

1. Log in to eResponse at juror.oscn.net, the statewide juror site, with the Candidate ID from your summons, your zip code and your date of birth.
2. Claim the over-70 or five-year protection by calling your county's jury clerk before your reporting time. In Oklahoma County, that number is 405-713-1102.
3. Use your one postponement by contacting the court clerk in person, by phone, by email or in writing, and fix a new date within six months.
4. Ask for a medical or hardship excusal with documentation. Oklahoma County hears excuse requests in person at 3 p.m. on the Friday before the service week; other counties have their own process, listed on the summons.
5. Tell your employer about the summons within a reasonable time and before you appear, so the § 34 job protection applies.

Watch for jury duty scam calls

We did not find a statewide Oklahoma judiciary warning about jury scams. The Tulsa County District Court's juror page posts this notice: "The District Court of Tulsa County will never contact you to request any personal information such as your Social Security number or date of birth. Please be advised any requests for such information may be related to phishing or identify theft." Our guide to government impersonation scams explains how these schemes work, and our page on Oklahoma scam and fraud laws covers where to report.

Recent changes

• November 1, 2023: 2023 1st Extraordinary Session HB 1024 raised the daily juror fee in 28 O.S. § 86 from $20 to $50.
• November 1, 2023: Laws 2023, ch. 7 (HB 1005) let physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses verify a medical excusal under 38 O.S. § 28.
• We found no 2025 or 2026 enactment changing these sections in the legislature's Title 38 compilation or on OSCN, but we did not search every bill in the 2025-26 session.

Disclaimer: This page is general legal information about Oklahoma jury service, not legal advice. The judge, or the court clerk acting under a judge's supervision, at the court that summoned you decides every exemption, excusal and postponement request. Information verified October 7, 2026. For questions about your summons, contact the court clerk listed on it; for an employment dispute, consult a lawyer licensed in Oklahoma.

Related pages

• Jury duty laws by state
• Oklahoma at-will employment laws
• Oklahoma court records
• Oklahoma scam and fraud laws
• Texas jury duty laws
• Kansas jury duty laws

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does jury duty pay in Oklahoma?

Oklahoma pays $50 for each day's attendance before a court of record, plus mileage under the State Travel Reimbursement Act (28 O.S. § 86(A)). On trials longer than 10 days, the court may pay extra replacement wages of up to $200 a day from day 11.

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

Yes. Persons over 70 cannot be compelled to serve (38 O.S. § 28(B)). It is not an automatic removal: county clerks say to call the jury clerk before your reporting time to claim it.

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

Oklahoma's jury statute does not require an employer to pay wages for jury time unless you choose to use paid leave, and the choice between paid and unpaid leave is yours (38 O.S. § 34(C)). Public-school teachers are an exception: school districts must pay them their full contract salary during jury service, minus any juror fee the district deducts (70 O.S. § 6-104(C)). Other state, school and local government employees should check their own leave rules.

Can I be fired for jury duty in Oklahoma?

Not if you notified your employer of the summons within a reasonable time and before appearing (38 O.S. § 34(A)). A violating employer faces a fine of up to $5,000 and a civil suit for actual and exemplary damages (§§ 34(C), 35).

Can I postpone jury duty in Oklahoma?

Yes, once. Every summoned person has the right to postpone their first appearance one time, to a date within six months on which court is in session (38 O.S. § 28.1). A second postponement requires an extreme, unforeseeable emergency.

Can a felon serve on a jury in Oklahoma?

Only if fully restored to his or her civil rights (38 O.S. § 28(C)(7)). The jury statute does not define what full restoration requires, so ask the court clerk how it applies to you. Even with rights restored, a felony conviction can still be grounds to be excused for cause from a criminal jury (Davis v. State, 2011 OK CR 29).

What happens if I miss jury duty in Oklahoma?

Failing to appear without a proper postponement is indirect contempt, punishable by a fine of up to $500, community service, or both (21 O.S. § 567B). The court may excuse the sanction for good cause or in the interests of justice.

How often can you be called for jury duty in Oklahoma?

You cannot be required to serve as a petit juror more than one day in a calendar year unless you are selected for or considered for a longer trial (38 O.S. § 21). A person who served during the last five calendar years cannot be compelled to serve (§ 28(B)).