For our state courts…you can be summoned annually. But…if you are selected and serve on a jury, you are excused for three years.
Both my husband and I have been summoned annually for about five years now. Neither of us has had to even go for the one day.
I served on a jury in 1988. It was about as boring as one could get…a boundary dispute. But the process was interesting.
“Did you think jurors just volunteered or something? How did you think juries were impaneled?”
No, actually what I thought was that people might appreciate a bit of humor in my post 
I’ve never been called. When I was about 18 yrs, 3 months old, I received a questionnaire about my eligibility. I filled it out, it asked if anyone in my family worked in insurance, I said yes, that was the end of it. I moved from that county shortly thereafter.
I’ve always had a car registered and registered to vote, but I’ve never been called at all.
The number of civil (as in not criminal) trials has been declining a lot in recent years. And a lot of criminal cases end in plea bargains, sometimes on the morning of trial. So I think the number of people being called for jury duty and actually being in jurors must be declining quite a bit as well.
I suspect some of who gets called is based on your state and county guidelines.
I have never been called. Neither have our 3 adult children. H has been called multiple times, but been excused. Once he got off because we would be on vacation and had purchased airline tickets to prove it, another because the time required meant our minor autistic child would have been home alone during the day, another because our youngest was under age 8 and in the summer he is the parent at home. The last time he got called, his number came up early and he made it through the initial selection, but was rejected because he had 2 teenage daughters and the case was stepfather molestation of teenage stepdaughter.
In our state…if you have vacation plans, you don’t get out of your summons. You are required to postpone it.
I’ve been called 5 times and have served 4 of those times (the one time I didn’t serve was a call in and I was never called in). My H has been called probably 3 or 4 times and never even gets out of the jury waiting room! Go figure!
My D was called last year at age 19…postponed until winter break and never left the waiting room.
I hate it when people who show up and are about to be put on a jury, suddenly they are begging their case to the judge. It used to be they got off. But I’ve noticed a turn lately…the judge will let them go, but they have to report at another time. Now they not only wasted the one day, they have to come back and do it again. There are plenty of opportunities for postponing a summons to a more convenient time, there is no reason to show up two days before your vacation. I’m not a fan of serving, however, I make sure my calendar is clear for at least 5 days in case I have to serve on a jury (and with my track record that is very likely!).
I’ve only made it out of the jury room once. I’ve always shown up, waited for a good while, then been sent home. One time I was asked to sit outside the particular courtroom, but the suspect ultimately made a deal, and we were all sent home. I’ve been called to civil court as well, but have always been sent home after a few hours. I’ve also had the call in thing, but each time I called in, I was told I wasn’t needed.
I’ll also add to not be a grump about jury duty. I worked for a judge and I had to deal with the jurors (civil court, we only had about 6 per year). We had a few people who were just jerks about it, wanting to be dismissed immediately, they had businesses to get to, they wouldn’t be picked anyway because they were VERY important doctors/mothers/lawyers, they just couldn’t take the time to be on the jury. Um, I was a clerk, I couldn’t dismiss them, and all the shouting, crying, or begging wouldn’t speed it up. One guy I still remember, a psychologist, just kept insisting that I take his special request to the judge. The judge wouldn’t let him go, and he had to sit in the gallery until the selection process was over. I think if he hadn’t been a jerk, the judge would have let him go.
Most of the jurors I worked with were nice and tried to do a good job. My judge also was kind to the jurors, tried not to hold them too late, gave frequent breaks.
In our county, it is said to be selected at random from registered voters. I worked a “midnight” shift at the time I was called upon, so they didn’t want me. The hours I would have had to sit in the box were my usual sleep hours.