States
Jury duty in Kentucky: pay, employer rules and excuses
Independent site, not a court. Answer your summons and ask for an excuse only through the court that summoned you.
Find the $12.50 Kentucky juror payment broken into its two parts, the 30-day service cap, and the excuse and postponement routes under KRS 29A.
What jury duty in Kentucky will pay you
You receive for 3 days
$37.50
| Court fee | $37.50 |
| Employer, by law | No duty to keep paying wages under this law |
| A normal 3 days of work | $600 |
| Income lost | $562.50 |
| Age rule | 70 and over, may ask to be excused |
Kentucky: $5 per day for service plus $7.50 per day expense reimbursement ($12.50 total), paid for every day you attend even if not seated. Before tax. No statute requires wages during service; employers may not fire, threaten or coerce an employee over jury service (Class B misdemeanor under KRS 29A.990).
All jury rules in KentuckyA Kentucky juror receives $12.50 for each day of attendance, made up of $5 for service and $7.50 as expense reimbursement (KRS 29A.170), and it is paid even on days you are not seated. No statute requires an employer to keep paying wages, but KRS 29A.160 forbids firing, threatening or coercing an employee over jury service, and a violation is a Class B misdemeanor under KRS 29A.990. People 70 or older may ask on the juror qualification form to be excused for the period summoned (KRS 29A.080(2)(h)). Nobody can be required to serve more than 30 court days on a petit jury in a 24-month period, unless needed to finish a case, and the same period limits you to one grand jury and not both grand and petit service. Postponements are handled by the Chief Circuit Judge or a designated clerk or administrator. A juror who fails to appear is ordered to show cause and may be punished for contempt; KRS 29A.150 sets no specific amount.
Statutes and court pages read by Radif Partners on October 29, 2026 · Method and sources
How Kentucky postpones instead of excusing
Kentucky judges favor postponement or reduced service over a permanent excuse, and the statute gives them room to do it. Staff designated by the Chief Circuit Judge can push your service back up to 12 months, while the judge can postpone it as far as 24 months. Ask before, or on, the day you are summoned. A permanent exemption is reserved for a permanent medical condition, and other excuses under KRS 29A.100 are undue hardship, extreme inconvenience and public necessity. Breastfeeding or expressing breastmilk is also listed, along with age 70 or older on request.
The 30 court day cap for Kentucky jurors
Rather than a one day or one trial rule, which nothing we read for Kentucky provides, Kentucky limits the total. Within any 24 months you cannot be required to serve more than 30 court days as a petit juror, except to complete a case already under way, and you cannot be put on more than one grand jury or on both a grand and a petit jury. Pay stays the same throughout at $12.50 a day, so a full 30-day stretch would bring $375 before tax. Since that is modest and employers need not pay wages, ask your employer for its jury leave policy as soon as the summons arrives.
The rules in Kentucky, law by law
| Rule | What the law or court says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Juror pay | $12.50 a day | KRS 29A.170 |
| Mileage | not specified by the state | KRS 29A.170 |
| Employer must keep paying | No | KRS 29A.160 |
| Job protected | Yes | KRS 29A.160 |
| Age | 70 and over: may ask to be excused | KRS 29A.080(2)(h) |
| Length of service | No more than 30 court days of petit jury service in any 24-month period, unless needed to finish a case. | apps.legislature.ky.gov |
| Before another summons | 24 months | apps.legislature.ky.gov |
| Postponing | Ask the Chief Circuit Judge or a designated clerk/administrator; staff can postpone up to 12 months, a judge up to 24 months. | apps.legislature.ky.gov |
| Not showing up | A no-show is ordered to appear and show cause, and may be punished for contempt; the statute sets no specific amount. | KRS 29A.150 |
Excuses and postponement in Kentucky
Request an excuse before or on the day you are summoned; judges favour postponement or reduced service over a permanent excuse. Ask the Chief Circuit Judge or a designated clerk/administrator; staff can postpone up to 12 months, a judge up to 24 months.
Can I be excused or postpone?
Kentucky
No ground named: ask to postpone
| Age rule | 70+, on request |
Request an excuse before or on the day you are summoned; judges favour postponement or reduced service over a permanent excuse. Ask the Chief Circuit Judge or a designated clerk/administrator; staff can postpone up to 12 months, a judge up to 24 months.
A request is decided by the court, often with proof (a doctor's note, a school schedule). Ignoring a summons is not an excuse.