{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-38-38-28","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 38, § 38-28","heading":"Qualifications and exemptions","body":"A. It is the policy of this state that all citizens qualified\n\nfor jury service pursuant to this section have an obligation to\n\nserve on petit juries when summoned by the courts of this state,\n\nunless excused.\n\nB. All citizens of the United States, residing in this state,\n\nhaving the qualifications of electors of this state, are competent\n\njurors to serve on all grand and petit juries within their counties;\n\nprovided, that persons over seventy (70) years of age and persons\n\nwho have served as a grand or petit juror during the last five (5)\n\nimmediately preceding calendar years shall not be compelled to serve\n\nas jurors in this state and the court may excuse or discharge any\n\njuror drawn and summoned as a grand or petit juror if:\n\n1. The prospective juror has a mental or physical condition\n\nthat causes him or her to be incapable of performing jury service.\n\nThe juror, or the juror's personal representative, shall provide the\n\ncourt with documentation from a physician, physician assistant, or\n\nadvanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice medicine\n\nverifying that a mental or physical condition renders the person\n\nunfit for jury service for a period of up to twenty-four (24)\n\nmonths; or\n\n2. Jury service would cause undue or extreme physical or\n\nfinancial hardship to the prospective juror or a person under his or\n\nher care or supervision. A judge of the court for which the\n\nindividual was called to jury service shall make undue or extreme\n\nphysical or financial hardship determinations. The authority to\n\nmake these determinations is delegable only to court officials or\n\npersonnel who are authorized by the laws of this state to function\n\nas members of the judiciary. A person requesting to be excused\n\nbased on a finding of undue or extreme physical or financial\n\nhardship shall take all actions necessary to have obtained a ruling\n\non that request by no later than the date on which the individual is\n\nscheduled to appear for jury duty. For purposes of this section,\n\n\"undue or extreme physical or financial hardship\" is limited to\n\ncircumstances in which an individual would be required to abandon a\n\nperson under his or her personal care or supervision due to the\n\nimpossibility of obtaining an appropriate substitute caregiver\n\nduring the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury,\n\nincur costs that would have a substantial adverse impact on the\n\npayment of the individual's necessary daily living expenses or on\n\nthose for whom he or she provides the principal means of support, or\n\nsuffer physical hardship that would result in illness or disease.\n\nUndue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not exist\n\nsolely based on the fact that a prospective juror will be required\n\nto be absent from his or her place of employment. A person\n\nrequesting a judge to grant an excuse based on undue or extreme\n\nphysical or financial hardship shall be required to provide the\n\njudge with documentation, such as, but not limited to, federal and\n\nstate income tax returns, medical statements from licensed\n\nphysicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, and similar\n\ndocuments, which the judge finds to clearly support the request to\n\nbe excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation shall\n\nresult in a denial of the request to be excused.\n\nAfter two (2) years, a person excused from jury service shall\n\nbecome eligible once again for qualification as a juror unless the\n\nperson was excused from service permanently. A person is excused\n\nfrom jury service permanently only when the deciding judge\n\ndetermines that the underlying grounds for being excused are of a\n\npermanent nature.\n\nC. Persons who are not qualified to serve as jurors are:\n\n1. Justices of the Supreme Court or the Court of Civil Appeals;\n\n2. Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals or the district\n\ncourt;\n\n3. Sheriffs or deputy sheriffs;\n\n4. Municipal or state law enforcement officers employed in any\nly when the deciding judge\n\ndetermines that the underlying grounds for being excused are of a\n\npermanent nature.\n\nC. Persons who are not qualified to serve as jurors are:\n\n1. Justices of the Supreme Court or the Court of Civil Appeals;\n\n2. Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals or the district\n\ncourt;\n\n3. Sheriffs or deputy sheriffs;\n\n4. Municipal or state law enforcement officers employed in any\n\ncounty with a population of two hundred fifty-five thousand\n\n(255,000) or more;\n\n5. Federal law enforcement officers;\n\n6. Licensed attorneys engaged in the practice of law;\n\n7. Persons who have been convicted of any felony or who have\n\nserved a term of imprisonment in any penitentiary, state or federal,\n\nfor the commission of a felony; provided, any such citizen\n\nconvicted, who has been fully restored to his or her civil rights,\n\nshall be eligible to serve as a juror; and\n\n8. Legislators during a session of the Legislature or when\n\ninvolved in state business.\n\nD. Jailers, or municipal or state law enforcement officers in a\n\ncounty with a population of less than two hundred fifty-five\n\nthousand (255,000), shall be eligible to serve on noncriminal\n\nactions only.\n\nE. Upon his or her request, a person shall be exempt from\n\nservice as a juror if the person is:\n\n1. A member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is\n\nserving on active duty during a time of war or declared hostilities;\n\nor\n\n2. A mother who is breast-feeding a baby.\n\nF. The district court may provide electronic resources for\n\npersons summoned for jury duty to obtain information about their\n\njury service and to submit information to the court, including but\n\nnot limited to communications via telephone, text message,\n\nelectronic mail and website. The court may utilize an approved\n\nelectronic jury management system to record, process, respond to,\n\nand maintain juror communications. The court clerk and the trial\n\ncourt administrator, under the supervision and control of the\n\npresiding judge or chief judge, or any district judge acting as his\n\nor her designee, may be authorized to make determinations regarding\n\njuror excusals, exemptions, disqualifications, postponements and\n\ndeferrals. However, determinations regarding extreme physical or\n\nfinancial hardship shall be made as provided in paragraph 2 of\n\nsubsection B of this section.\n\nG. Information provided to the court pursuant to this section\n\nby persons summoned for jury service shall be used exclusively for\n\npurposes of determining jury disqualifications or excusals. No\n\nperson shall disclose, copy or permit any person to copy this\n\ninformation for purposes other than jury management.","path":["OK Code","Title 38"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os38.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"137a1ab509c4f56563da394abbd046a13661becc6d59b7758411b37f445dd112","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-38-38-23.1","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-38-38-28.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}