Contact the jury staff at (202) 879-4604 if you have a scheduling conflict, travel plans, medical appointment, illness, or other matter that would prevent you from serving on a trial. Do not assume that you will be here for only one day; you may be selected for a trial. Other reasons that you feel would prevent you from serving, such as religious beliefs or strong personal convictions, should be explained to the judge if you are called to a courtroom. See Deferrals.If you experience an emergency or last-minute scheduling conflict on the day of your scheduled service, talk to one of the Juror Office staff at the front counter. Rather than assign you to a courtroom, our jury staff can excuse you for that day and reschedule your service for a better time. We do not recommend that you wait until you are seated in a courtroom for the voir dire process -- the process by which jurors are selected -- to discuss scheduling conflicts that might impede your serving on a trial. Upon learning of a scheduling conflict, many judges will excuse you from that particular trial, but will order you to reschedule your service for a more opportune time.