Does SC have age limits for jury duty? Here’s who’s eligible to serve
Every year South Carolina’s State Election Commission sends county jury commissioners a list of residents eligible to serve their community as jurors. Names are randomly selected from this list to summon potential jurors.
But are there age limits for service?
According to the South Carolina Judicial Branch a qualified juror:
Is over the age of 18 years
Has United States citizenship
Resides in the South Carolina
Can read, write, speak and understand English
Hasn’t been convicted of a crime that carries a sentence of more than one year of imprisonment except in cases of pardons or amnesty
Is not a clerk of court, deputy clerk of court, constable, sheriff, commissioned law enforcement officer, probate judge, county commissioner, magistrate, or county officer, or otherwise employed in courthouse
Has a sixth grade education or its equivalent
Does not have a mental or physical condition preventing jury service
Has not served on a circuit court jury within the current calendar year
While the law has no maximum age limit, residents over the age of 65 can be excused from service. According to the South Carolina Judicial Branch website, the state will exempt:
People 65 years of age or older who wish to be excused
Primary caretakers of a disabled person or a person age 65 or older who requires care
People with legal custody and duty of care of a child under the age of seven and who can’t provide adequate childcare
Guards, keepers, employees, and other officers at a state penitentiary
People who have served on a circuit court jury during the previous two calendar years
People who have served on a grand jury during the previous four calendar years
But these exemptions aren’t automatic. To be excused, residents summoned must submit an affidavit. More information about exemptions from jury service can be found here, on the South Carolina Judicial Branch website.