How to get excused from jury duty in DeKalb County, Georgia
The excusal routes DeKalb County, Georgia actually recognizes — what each one needs, who decides, and where it goes.
One thing to know before your doctor writes anything. DeKalb’s medical affidavit “must be signed by a MD, DO, or PA-C” — the Jury Management Office said so in writing on 10 September 2026, and that restriction appears nowhere on the form itself. A nurse practitioner or any other provider cannot sign it, and you would find that out after the appointment and after the notary. Two more things the office settled. At 70 you may opt out permanently or only for your day of service, your choice, and it is expressly not a medical question. And hardship is decided by a presiding judge, State or Superior — but the office did not say whether a judge reads a written request before your report date or hears it in the room, and that is what decides whether a letter is worth preparing. The free entry at the top of this list is the question to ask. Do not download a DeKalb jury form you found by searching — ask the office to send you the current one. Three different DeKalb Superior Court web addresses are in circulation, and at least one of them still serves a 2014 version of the medical affidavit that names the court differently from the form the Jury Management Office emailed this project on 10 September 2026. The office’s copy is the one recorded here. Email [email protected] or telephone (404) 371-2022 and ask for the form that applies now.
Your routes in DeKalb County, Georgia
Confirm how a hardship request reaches the judgeFree — do this first
One question decides whether the letter below is worth buying. Ask it before you buy anything.
See the full detail →Age 70 or olderIncluded — 70+, and you choose permanent or just the day
At 70 you may opt out permanently, or only for your day of service. The office says it does not need to be treated as a medical matter.
Jury Management Office, DeKalb County — by email, 10 September 2026. “At the Age of 70 jurors can opt out permanently or just for their day of service and does not need to be considered as a medical DQ.”
Eleven counties have now been asked whether age alone is enough, and this is the only one that hands you a choice. Elsewhere the answer is a single switch, or a higher age, or a medical condition on top, or a form that only works before the summons arrives.
The second half of that sentence is doing quiet work too. Several counties in this project route age through a medical test — one of them says in print that age does not qualify a person at all, only a condition does. DeKalb says the opposite in terms: this is not a medical question and no doctor need be involved.
See the full detail →Eleven counties have now been asked whether age alone is enough, and this is the only one that hands you a choice. Elsewhere the answer is a single switch, or a higher age, or a medical condition on top, or a form that only works before the summons arrives.
The second half of that sentence is doing quiet work too. Several counties in this project route age through a medical test — one of them says in print that age does not qualify a person at all, only a condition does. DeKalb says the opposite in terms: this is not a medical question and no doctor need be involved.
Reschedule or deferralIncluded — 30 days or 60, and they are different things
A reschedule moves you up to 30 days and lands Monday to Thursday. A deferral moves you up to 60. Ask for the right one by name — the office provides documentation of either.
Jury Management Office, DeKalb County — by email, 10 September 2026. “Reschedules are up to 30 days Monday-Thursday; Deferrals are up to 60 days, and we do provide documentation of either the excusal or the deferral.”
Two mechanisms with two names and two windows, and asking for the wrong one gets you the wrong window. Most counties in this project have a single postponement route; DeKalb has a short one and a long one, and the customer who says “can I postpone” without saying which may be given thirty days when sixty were available.
The Monday-to-Thursday detail is easy to skim past. It constrains where a reschedule can land, so a rescheduled date will not fall on a Friday.
See the full detail →Two mechanisms with two names and two windows, and asking for the wrong one gets you the wrong window. Most counties in this project have a single postponement route; DeKalb has a short one and a long one, and the customer who says “can I postpone” without saying which may be given thirty days when sixty were available.
The Monday-to-Thursday detail is easy to skim past. It constrains where a reschedule can land, so a rescheduled date will not fall on a Friday.
Medical excusalIncluded — the county’s form, notarized, MD/DO/PA-C only
A one-page affidavit completed and signed by your physician, and notarized. Only an MD, DO or PA-C may sign it — a restriction that appears nowhere on the form.
Medical Affidavit — Office of Jury Management, DeKalb Judicial Circuit. The restriction that is not on the form. The office wrote: “Yes, there is a form for Medical Excusal, and it must be signed by a MD, DO, or PA-C.” Read the affidavit and you will find nothing of the sort — it says only “Physician’s Signature” and “PRINT NAME OF PHYSICIAN.” If your care comes from a nurse practitioner, a therapist, a chiropractor or a nurse, this form cannot be signed by the person who knows your case, and you will not learn that from the paper in front of you.
What the form asks. Your physician swears one of two things. Either you are “permanently disabled and should not be considered for jury service, now or in the future,” or you are under treatment with an “expected recovery time” stated in days or weeks, at which point you “should be considered for Jury service.” Then the physician’s signature, printed name and telephone number, and a Georgia notary.
It must be notarized. The form says so at the top — “THE AFFIDAVIT MUST BE NOTARIZED” — and again at the bottom. That is a step after the appointment, not part of it.
There is nothing on this form for you to write, which is why there is nothing here for us to sell. What is worth your attention is the choice between the two statements, and getting the right signature on it.
See the full detail →What the form asks. Your physician swears one of two things. Either you are “permanently disabled and should not be considered for jury service, now or in the future,” or you are under treatment with an “expected recovery time” stated in days or weeks, at which point you “should be considered for Jury service.” Then the physician’s signature, printed name and telephone number, and a Georgia notary.
It must be notarized. The form says so at the top — “THE AFFIDAVIT MUST BE NOTARIZED” — and again at the bottom. That is a step after the appointment, not part of it.
There is nothing on this form for you to write, which is why there is nothing here for us to sell. What is worth your attention is the choice between the two statements, and getting the right signature on it.
Primary caregiver of a young childPublished as a category — confirm it before relying on it
DeKalb’s jury service page listed an affidavit category for the primary caregiver of a child aged 6 or younger with no reasonably available alternative childcare.
DeKalb County jury service page, read 27 August 2026 — not restated by the office in September. The county’s jury service page set out affidavit categories including the primary caregiver of a child aged 6 or younger with no reasonably available alternative childcare.
Why this entry is worded cautiously. When the Jury Management Office answered seven questions in writing on 10 September 2026, it described the medical affidavit and did not mention this category. That is not a contradiction — nobody asked about caregiving — but it does mean the only support for it is a website read a two weeks earlier.
This project has been wrong in both directions on exactly this kind of content. It has carried website claims that a county later denied, and it has deleted claims that the county later confirmed word for word. So the honest thing is to show it, say where it came from, and tell you to ask the office to confirm the category before you rely on it: (404) 371-2022, extension 0.
If it does apply, note the second limb. No reasonably available alternative childcare is a separate thing from being the primary caregiver, and a request that establishes only the first leaves the court to guess at the second.
See the full detail →Why this entry is worded cautiously. When the Jury Management Office answered seven questions in writing on 10 September 2026, it described the medical affidavit and did not mention this category. That is not a contradiction — nobody asked about caregiving — but it does mean the only support for it is a website read a two weeks earlier.
This project has been wrong in both directions on exactly this kind of content. It has carried website claims that a county later denied, and it has deleted claims that the county later confirmed word for word. So the honest thing is to show it, say where it came from, and tell you to ask the office to confirm the category before you rely on it: (404) 371-2022, extension 0.
If it does apply, note the second limb. No reasonably available alternative childcare is a separate thing from being the primary caregiver, and a request that establishes only the first leaves the court to guess at the second.
Active military servicePublished as a category — confirm it before relying on it
DeKalb’s jury service page listed an affidavit category for active military service.
DeKalb County jury service page, read 27 August 2026 — not restated by the office in September. The county’s jury service page set out affidavit categories including active military service.
As with the caregiver category above, the Jury Management Office’s written reply of 10 September 2026 described only the medical affidavit and neither confirmed nor contradicted this. It is shown here as published rather than as confirmed.
One call settles it — (404) 371-2022, extension 0 — and it is worth making before you assemble anything, because counties differ sharply on this. Some require you to be stationed outside the local area; others treat current orders as the whole of the test.
See the full detail →As with the caregiver category above, the Jury Management Office’s written reply of 10 September 2026 described only the medical affidavit and neither confirmed nor contradicted this. It is shown here as published rather than as confirmed.
One call settles it — (404) 371-2022, extension 0 — and it is worth making before you assemble anything, because counties differ sharply on this. Some require you to be stationed outside the local area; others treat current orders as the whole of the test.
Financial hardshipA presiding judge decides — check first whether a letter reaches one
Handled by a presiding judge of the State or Superior Court, who holds the authority to release you. Whether a written request reaches one before your report date is the one thing the office did not confirm.
Jury Management Office, DeKalb County — by email, 10 September 2026. “A financial hardship situation is typically handled by the presiding judges here whether it is State or Superior Court, as they have the legal binding authority to release you for an instance such as financial hardships.”
That answers who, and not how. The Jury Management Office is telling you plainly that it cannot release you itself — the authority sits with a judge. What it does not say is whether that judge reads a written request in advance or hears you in the room on the day, and those call for completely different preparation. Use the free entry at the top of this list and ask before you buy this.
Before any of that, weigh the simpler routes. The office grants a reschedule of up to 30 days or a deferral of up to 60 on request, and provides documentation of either. A judge is the answer only if moving the date is not.
One further thing the office confirmed, which matters if your situation is going to last: “Excusals are annual in nature, so you can be excused every year from jury service if you submit the proper documentation.”
That answers who, and not how. The Jury Management Office is telling you plainly that it cannot release you itself — the authority sits with a judge. What it does not say is whether that judge reads a written request in advance or hears you in the room on the day, and those call for completely different preparation. Use the free entry at the top of this list and ask before you buy this.
Before any of that, weigh the simpler routes. The office grants a reschedule of up to 30 days or a deferral of up to 60 on request, and provides documentation of either. A judge is the answer only if moving the date is not.
One further thing the office confirmed, which matters if your situation is going to last: “Excusals are annual in nature, so you can be excused every year from jury service if you submit the proper documentation.”
$19.97 · prepared for you, reviewed before you send it.
Prepare your Hardship Letter →Contact the court
Jury Management Office, DeKalb County — 556 N. McDonough St, Suite 100, Decatur, GA 30030Jury line: (404) 371-2022
Dial extension 0. Email [email protected] for all requests and official documentation, confirmed by the office on 10 September 2026. This one office covers both the State and the Superior Court. When the county’s contact page was read on 27 August 2026 it gave staffed hours of 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday — not from 9:00 — and noted that (404) 371-2030 is a recording of reporting information rather than a question line.
Dial extension 0. Email [email protected] for all requests and official documentation, confirmed by the office on 10 September 2026. This one office covers both the State and the Superior Court. When the county’s contact page was read on 27 August 2026 it gave staffed hours of 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday — not from 9:00 — and noted that (404) 371-2030 is a recording of reporting information rather than a question line.
Other counties
JuryFree prepares documents and guidance from the facts you provide. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice or guarantee any outcome. Court rules and deadlines vary by county and change over time — confirm with the court before you rely on anything here. Questions: [email protected].