Jury Duty Pay in Minnesota

About Jury Duty in Minnesota

Minnesota pays jurors $20 per day (set in 2016) and has one of the longest post-service exemptions in the country: once you serve, you cannot be summoned again for 4 years (reducible to 2 years if a county has insufficient jurors). This is codified in the Minnesota General Rules of Practice, Rule 808(b)(7).

How Jury Pay Works

Minnesota uses a flat $20/day rate for all jurors. Mileage reimbursement follows the IRS rate for round-trip travel. Hennepin County (Minneapolis) provides light rail passes. The state is a “one day or one trial” jurisdiction. Note: the 4-year exemption is often misreported as “4 months” — the actual period is 4 years, one of the longest mandatory breaks in the country.

The Twin Cities Jury System

Hennepin County (Minneapolis) is the busiest state court in the upper Midwest, with the Hennepin County Government Center handling the bulk of jury operations. The light rail connection — both Blue and Green lines stop at the Government Center — makes transit access practical for a significant percentage of jurors.

Ramsey County (St. Paul) operates the state’s second-largest system. The two counties together handle roughly half of all Minnesota jury trials, though the state’s 87 counties each maintain independent jury operations.

Employer Obligations

Minnesota employers are not required to pay wages during jury service, but they cannot penalize employees. Major Twin Cities employers — Target, Best Buy, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Medtronic — generally continue full salary voluntarily. The strong corporate culture of civic engagement in Minnesota means many jurors are effectively covered.

The Four-Year Exemption

Minnesota’s 4-year post-service exemption is one of the longest mandatory breaks in the country. Once you serve on a jury, you are exempt from being summoned again for 4 years — regardless of whether you served one day or were empaneled for a weeks-long trial. This rule acknowledges that jury service is genuinely disruptive and shouldn’t be repeated too frequently. It can be reduced to 2 years if a county lacks sufficient prospective jurors.

How Minnesota Compares

Minnesota’s $20/day sits above Wisconsin’s $16/day and is offset by round-trip mileage reimbursement and strong ancillary protections. Federal jurors in Minnesota’s single district receive $50/day. Recent legislative discussions have explored raising the $20 rate, which has been frozen since 2016.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 357.24 — Official source