It is hard to find someone who does not dread jury duty, especially students who have to take time away from their already busy schedules to do it.

Pima County Jury Commissioner Kathy Brauer has some good news for students who think they have no other choice but to skip classes on the assigned day of jury duty.

Although not everyone can permanently get out of jury duty, it can be postponed to a later, more convenient time.

"You can pretty much always get it postponed," Brauer said.

Students can postpone jury duty by filling out the postponement section of the court summons which is mailed to them. The catch is that you must pick a Tuesday or Thursday within the next 90 days for which you can serve for sure, Brauer said.

"We try to be very accommodating with postponements," she said.

In May, there were 154 postponements for jury duty made by students who were probably studying for finals, Brauer said.

The only time someone can permanently get out of jury duty is if they are not a U.S. citizen; are not 18 years of age or older; are not a resident of the county; do not understand English; have been convicted of a felony without restoration of civil right s; or have a doctor's statement of severe physical or mental illness. These are stated on the jury summons that are mailed to each potential juror.

For those worried about their jobs, employers are not allowed to prevent someone from serving jury duty or retaliate if they skip work. On the other hand, employers are not required to pay employees who skip work for jury duty, Brauer said.

Heather Molina, a media arts sophomore, was summoned for jury duty on the second day of classes.

"It's just a pain in the butt because they kind of scare you into thinking you have to go or else," Molina said.

She did get her date postponed but will still have to take time away from school because she did not want to serve during her Christmas break.

"I feel like I'm making enough contribution to society by getting an education and doing community service," Molina said. "I really don't want to have to serve jury duty but wanted to register to vote."

Names for jury duty are taken from the Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division or voter registration records, Brauer said. The list for jury duty is updated twice a year.

When selecting who will be called for jury duty, names are pulled randomly from the master list, which sometimes indicates ages, Brauer said. She said information on whether the person is a student is not available.

Once someone is selected, they are expected to serve one day, and if picked for the trial, they are expected to serve the whole trial.

This means it is not acceptable to postpone jury duty until Christmas or summer break and buy plane tickets to leave the state for the day after, Brauer said. The judge will not be happy with someone who comes to him saying they cannot come in again becau se they're going home, she said.

"We have a lot of students in here over Christmas break," Brauer said.

For those who do not show up, a postcard will be mailed to them saying they failed to appear and to reschedule as soon as possible.

About 40 percent of the people who fail to appear respond to the card and reschedule, Brauer said. The penalty for not responding is being charged with contempt of court and/or a $100 fine.

Brauer said she is working to put a system in place where those who do not respond at all are forced to go into court and explain.

"So those of you who think you can blow it off are wrong," she said.

Molina said, "I just personally think they should exclude students except in the summer."

Pima County pays its jurors $12 a day if picked for a trial, plus gas mileage based on a juror's zip code, Brauer said. Parking is not free, but jurors get $1 off the regular rate.

There are no set guidelines for picking jurors, and Brauer said it all depends on the nature of the case and the attorneys.

"There is no reason that anyone can count on that will guarantee you won't get picked," she said. "You shouldn't try to second guess the system."

Brauer said students do not seem to be aware of the dress code. Although jeans and T-shirts are allowed, tank tops, shorts, skorts and halters tops are not.

"A lot of people don't pay attention to this," she said.

Those who wear the wrong clothes will either be sent home or rescheduled for another day.

Students learn from jury duty that the system does not run like it did on "L.A. Law," Brauer said.

"It's a great civics class on how the justice system works," she said. "You also see just how clogged the system is."

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