Jury duty in portland (live, cost, pool)

[lbcherokee]

Has anyone served on the Portland Superior Court jury lately? I've been called for jury duty starting 5/10. I've applied for a deferral because the term covers 4-5 weeks & my husband & I are scheduled to go on an Alaska cruise from 6/5-6/19. I talked to someone in the clerk's office who said I should write to the jury clerk explaining the problem. He said the court would probably "protect" me from duty for that 2 week period. Not exactly sure what that means since I still have to appear on 5/10. I can't find any info on the official website about how this actually works. It just says I can't be asked to serve more than 15 days unless necessary. I assume that means if I'm on a trial that runs over the 15th day. Do I call in every Sun. nite to see if I'm called that week? This 4-5 wk period really cuts into my summer which is pretty short in ME. This is my first jury duty in ME (only lived here 2 yrs next mo) but I've been called a total of 10 times in VA & MD & served most of those times covering a 25 yr span. If you had a conflict in those states you were taken off the roster for that period & would get called at a later date. The official site is also confusing re payment. The pg about District Court says there are no juries in District Court but then it says pay for jury duty is $40/day. The info on Superior Court says you are paid but no amount. $40 seems pretty high. Most I ever got in VA/MD was $15.

[Maineah]

I served last year. We had to report on the first day of the pick pool and then two weeks later. I was selected for a jury though luckily the trial I was chosen for was only one day long. If you have a vacation planned they will most likely let you out. They typically pick from a pool of over 100 people initially so there are plenty of people who can commit to the time. Usually on Monday they pick enough people to serve for the week so if you're not picked on Monday you usually don't have to go back for at least a week or two. They tell you when to come in and you only have to call in once a week to see if you're needed. Bring water, a snack, and a book as they don't feed you the first day and we were there from 9:00 AM until after 5:00 PM. A woman actually fainted from lack of food. They pay you a whopping $10.00 a day for serving.
Also call about parking reimbursement. They will punch your ticket for certain parking lots but others they make you send in your receipts and it can cost you $12.00 a day or more to park. Check your mileage on the way in too as they will ask you that.

[lbcherokee]

Thank you for the info. It's exactly what I needed.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by lbcherokee

Thank you for the info. It's exactly what I needed.

You're welcome

[lbcherokee]

Update: I got a postcard from the court today. It's obviously a "one size fits all" card that hasn't been updated lately. Deferral was an option on the summons but not the card. They checked off the box saying "You have not been excused from jury service...." (not what I asked for) but someone did write in "Your service will be over by 6/4/10." That's cutting it close - the day before we leave. It could be worse. I thought I might get extended thru July. Thx again.