Superior Court creates faster process for hospital health care workers to be excused from jury duty

As COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to reach record levels, the state’s Superior Court has announced a new, faster process for hospital health care workers to request excusal from jury duty. 

Court spokeswoman Susan Warner said the court is doing so at the request of the state Department of Health and Human Services. To qualify, the worker must be employed at a New Hampshire hospital.

Individual jurors had been able to request excusal for pandemic-related reasons by completing a questionnaire explaining their situation and waiting for a decision from the court. 

Warner said this temporary policy for hospital health care workers will allow them to bypass that process by sending a request directly to [email protected]. The health care worker must include their name, juror number, place of employment, and supervisor’s name in their request. The court will notify health care workers if they qualify.

There is no end date on the temporary policy. Warner said the health crisis and hospitalization rate in the state will be monitored. 

On Friday, New Hampshire, which is reporting 1,200 to 1,300 new infections daily, continued to lead the nation in new cases per capita. And nearly 480 people were hospitalized in New Hampshire with COVID-19, more than at any other point in the pandemic.