How to get excused from jury duty in Lee County, Florida
The excusal routes Lee County, Florida actually recognizes — what each one needs, who decides, and where it goes.
A jury clerk in Lee County cannot grant a financial-hardship request at all — but the office will carry your letter to a judge. The Court Services Jury Clerk told this project by email on 10 September 2026: “the prospective juror may compose a letter to the Duty Judge, address it to ‘Your Honor’, state their hardship, and we will forward it to the Duty Judge for further consideration.” That is a real written route with a named reader and a specified salutation. Two other things here catch people out. The age opt-out at 70 must reach the office no later than three business days before your service date, and you cannot do it early — there is no provision for jurors who are nearly 70. And a medical letter has four requirements: physician’s letterhead, jury specific, signed, and it must say whether the condition warrants a permanent excusal.
Your routes in Lee County, Florida
Age 70 or olderIncluded — 70, opt-out only, and there is a deadline
After your 70th birthday you may opt out, permanently or temporarily — but the request must reach the office no later than three business days before your service date, and you cannot do it in advance of turning 70.
Jury Office, Lee County — confirmed by email, 10 September 2026. “Once a juror has celebrated their 70th birthday, they may opt out (permanently or temporarily) from jury service. They must send this request to us no later than 3 business days prior to their current service date… They may not ‘pre-opt out’, meaning there is no statute provision for those jurors ‘almost’ 70 years of age… It is not an automatic excusal.”
Two things follow that most people get wrong. First, turning 70 changes nothing by itself — you remain in the pool, summons after summons, until you act. Second, there is a deadline, and it is short: three business days before the date on your summons. A request that arrives on the day is late.
See the full detail →Two things follow that most people get wrong. First, turning 70 changes nothing by itself — you remain in the pool, summons after summons, until you act. Second, there is a deadline, and it is short: three business days before the date on your summons. A request that arrives on the day is late.
PostponementIncluded — one by statute, a second as a courtesy
Florida allows one; Lee grants a second as a courtesy. The portal does it yourself — and it will refuse a third.
Jury Office, Lee County — confirmed by email, 10 September 2026. “Florida Statutes allow for one postponement, we can allow a second as a courtesy… Our system will not allow any juror to request a postponement if they have already done so twice.”
So the count matters, and it is enforced by software rather than judgment. The two routes also behave differently. Anything sent to the office produces a postcard, and Lee is one of the very few counties that says it notifies refusals too. The portal, by contrast, tells you nothing: “the process will instruct them to log in 24 hours after submitting their request to check their status.” Nobody at the office sees it, because you did it yourself.
See the full detail →So the count matters, and it is enforced by software rather than judgment. The two routes also behave differently. Anything sent to the office produces a postcard, and Lee is one of the very few counties that says it notifies refusals too. The portal, by contrast, tells you nothing: “the process will instruct them to log in 24 hours after submitting their request to check their status.” Nobody at the office sees it, because you did it yourself.
Financial hardshipA letter to the Duty Judge — addressed “Your Honor”
No clerk in Lee County can grant this. What you can do is write to the Duty Judge, addressed “Your Honor”, and the jury office will forward it for consideration.
Fla. Stat. § 40.013, and how Lee County routes it. “Financial hardship is not an authorized request for a jury clerk to grant; the prospective juror may compose a letter to the Duty Judge, address it to ‘Your Honor’, state their hardship, and we will forward it to the Duty Judge for further consideration.”
Compare Broward, the other Florida county we have asked. There, financial hardship is not on the excusal list either — but it is raised with the Judge in the courtroom, on the day. Same statute, same principle, and a completely different thing for you to do. In Lee you write in advance; in Broward you turn up and speak. That is why a general guide to Florida is worth nothing.
Compare Broward, the other Florida county we have asked. There, financial hardship is not on the excusal list either — but it is raised with the Judge in the courtroom, on the day. Same statute, same principle, and a completely different thing for you to do. In Lee you write in advance; in Broward you turn up and speak. That is why a general guide to Florida is worth nothing.
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Prepare your Hardship Letter →Medical conditionFour requirements, and “jury specific” is the one that fails
Lee provides no medical form. A physician’s letter is required, and the office named four things it must have — letterhead, jury specific, signed, and a statement of whether the excusal should be permanent.
Jury Office, Lee County — confirmed by email, 10 September 2026. “We do not provide a medical form for a prospective juror to present to their physician. We are not trained in the medical field, so a proper medical letter is required. Any medical letter of excusal must be on the physician’s letterhead, must be jury specific, must have the physician’s signature, and must state if the condition warrants a permanent excusal.”
“Jury specific” is the requirement that fails most letters. A practice asked for “a note for jury duty” will often produce a general statement about a patient’s health; what Lee needs is a letter that addresses jury service directly and says whether the condition warrants a permanent excusal.
Worth knowing how differently counties treat this: Erie County, Pennsylvania asks for the opposite — no condition named at all, on HIPAA grounds, and a two-line note from a receptionist obtained by phone. Lee wants letterhead, a signature, jury-specific content and a permanence finding. The same request, opposite briefs.
“Jury specific” is the requirement that fails most letters. A practice asked for “a note for jury duty” will often produce a general statement about a patient’s health; what Lee needs is a letter that addresses jury service directly and says whether the condition warrants a permanent excusal.
Worth knowing how differently counties treat this: Erie County, Pennsylvania asks for the opposite — no condition named at all, on HIPAA grounds, and a two-line note from a receptionist obtained by phone. Lee wants letterhead, a signature, jury-specific content and a permanence finding. The same request, opposite briefs.
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Prepare your What Your Doctor Needs to Write →Contact the court
Jury Office, Lee County Clerk of Court — Courts & Official Records ServicesJury line: (239) 533-2929
Email [email protected], confirmed by the office on 10 September 2026. Medical letters fax to (239) 790-3100. The Juror Portal is at leeclerk.org. Lee’s 20th Judicial Circuit also covers Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties, but each has its own separately elected Clerk — do not assume this contact applies if you were summoned in one of those.
Email [email protected], confirmed by the office on 10 September 2026. Medical letters fax to (239) 790-3100. The Juror Portal is at leeclerk.org. Lee’s 20th Judicial Circuit also covers Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry counties, but each has its own separately elected Clerk — do not assume this contact applies if you were summoned in one of those.
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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].