Jury duty — Indian River County, Florida

State jury summonses in Indian River County go to adult U.S. citizens who live in the county and hold a Florida driver license or ID card, whether their address is in Sebastian, Fellsmere, Vero Beach, Orchid or the unincorporated county.

The pool is drawn by computer. Jury Web, the online juror portal of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, states that prospective jurors are randomly selected from the Florida Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle's list of driver's license and identification card holders residing in Indian River County (Indian River Clerk Jury Web). City limits play no part in the draw: a license address in Indian River Shores, Gifford, Wabasso or Roseland lands in the same county list as one on the Vero Beach mainland.

Section 40.01 of the Florida Statutes sets four conditions: age 18 or older, U.S. citizenship, legal residence in Florida and in the county, and either a state driver license or ID card or a signed affidavit under section 40.011 (s. 40.01, Florida Statutes). The affidavit route lets a county resident with no license or state ID volunteer for the county list by signing that affidavit at the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court (s. 40.011, Florida Statutes).

A second, unrelated pool exists for federal court. Indian River County belongs to the Fort Pierce division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, together with Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Highlands counties, and that court builds its master jury wheel from voter registration lists rather than license records (Administrative Order 2025-20, page 1). Its March 17, 2025 order listed 120,888 names on the Indian River voter list and set 13,349 of them to be selected. A summons from the federal court, not from the Vero Beach courthouse, is answered to that court; its jury office lists (800) 865-1775 or (305) 523-5190 (Southern District of Florida jury information).

Every state juror in the county reports to the Indian River County Courthouse at 2000 16th Avenue in Vero Beach, where the Clerk's Jury Department works from Room 139.

The Jury Department phone is (772) 226-3100 Ext. 3104, and the courthouse switchboard is (772) 226-3100 (Clerk jury page). The Clerk's FAQ gives the jury room as (772) 226-3104 for postponement calls (Clerk FAQs). Parking costs nothing: the Clerk directs jurors to the garage directly in front of the courthouse. North county residents can handle other Clerk business closer to home at the Sebastian Office, 1921 U.S. Highway 1, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 am to 5 pm, but jury service itself is held in Vero Beach.

Much of the paperwork now runs through Jury Web. The portal offers four tabs: Subscription for email notifications about service, Postponements and Excusals, Attendance to check whether a juror must still report, and Questionnaire to fill in the juror form before arriving at 16th Avenue (Jury Web). Checking the Attendance tab the evening before saves a drive down U.S. 1 or I-95 from Fellsmere or Sebastian when a trial settles.

Jurors with a disability can ask for accommodation at no cost. Jury Web lists the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator at (772) 807-4370 and asks for the call at least seven business days before service; the coordinator's mailing address is 250 NW Country Club Drive, Suite 217, Port St. Lucie and hearing or voice impaired callers use 711 (Jury Web ADA notice).

Florida law lets several groups of Indian River County residents claim an excusal on request, disqualifies a few others outright, and leaves the remaining hardship cases to the judge at the Vero Beach courthouse.

The statute holds a detail that matters in a county with five cities: a person is not disqualified from a trial in which the state, a county or a municipal corporation is a party merely because the person lives or pays taxes there (s. 40.013, Florida Statutes). A Vero Beach taxpayer can therefore sit on a case involving the City of Vero Beach or the Board of County Commissioners. The same section allows an excusal on a showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience or public necessity.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is blunt about discretion. Its FAQ says a judge may excuse practicing attorneys, practicing physicians, physically infirm persons, or persons for reason of hardship or inconvenience, but such excusals are carefully reviewed and are not granted automatically (Clerk FAQs). A self-employed contractor in Gifford or a seasonal business owner on Orchid Island should expect to explain the hardship rather than assume a release.

Timing a postponement is simpler. The Clerk grants a one-time postponement when the Jury Department gets the request no less than 10 working days before the reporting date; the request should list the dates the juror can serve and a callback number (Clerk jury page). Health-based requests go on the Clerk's Medical Excusal Form, linked from the same page, or through the Postponements and Excusals tab on Jury Web.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court pays Indian River County jurors $15 a day for the first 3 days only when wages stop, then $30 a day from the fourth day for everyone.

Section 40.24 defines what counts as a paid day. Juror service covers being summoned and reporting as well as sitting on a jury, but it excludes days for which the juror was notified before reporting that attendance was not required (s. 40.24, Florida Statutes). That is one reason to watch the Attendance tab on Jury Web: a juror told to stay home in Sebastian earns nothing for that day. The statute counts part-time, temporary and casual work as regular employment when hours follow a schedule set in the 3 months before service.

Jury Web, quoting the summons, names who receives $15 a day from the state: workers whose employer does not pay wages during service, the unemployed, the self employed and the retired (Jury Web payment notice). That list covers retired jurors from Indian River Shores, Vero Lake Estates and the Sebastian Highlands as well as working ones. Pay rises to $30 a day on the fourth day of a trial regardless of the employer's policy.

Two other rules in section 40.24 affect Indian River County households. A juror on reemployment assistance does not lose those benefits because of juror pay, and the Clerk does not reimburse travel or other out-of-pocket expenses, so the round trip from Fellsmere or Roseland to 16th Avenue is the juror's own cost. Circuits that elect to do so may let jurors donate their fee to the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office's designated organization or a domestic violence shelter.

Jurors entering the Indian River County Courthouse pass a tray and metal detector screening, and glass containers, blades, chemical sprays, tools and beverages are turned away at the door.

Jury Web describes the routine: pockets are emptied into a tray, phones, laptops, books and magazines go through screening, and a wand follows any metal detector alert (Jury Web security notice). Its prohibited list runs from glass water bottles and glass food containers to pocket knives, razors, scissors, pepper spray, hair spray, knitting needles, nail clippers, tweezers, silverware and flashlights longer than 3 inches. The Clerk's own list adds liquids or aerosols and states that no beverages may be brought into the 16th Avenue building (Clerk jury page).

Phones are allowed in the Vero Beach courthouse but not in the deliberation room. Jurors selected for a trial must give cell phones, cameras, laptops and similar devices to the courtroom deputy before deliberations begin, and the deputy keeps them until deliberations end (Jury Web). Free WiFi is available for jurors waiting to be called.

Dress follows the Clerk's guidance: business attire, with no shorts, hats, t-shirts, tank tops or flip flop sandals in the courtroom, and a sweater or light jacket for the air-conditioned rooms. Jury Web repeats the jacket advice for the Vero Beach building, citing temperature variations inside it.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court in Vero Beach warns that calls demanding a prepaid-card payment for missed jury duty are a scam, and the federal court that covers the Fort Pierce division posts its own jury fraud alerts.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court reports that county residents have received calls from people posing as a member of a local law enforcement agency, who say the person missed jury duty and must pay immediately with a pre-paid card; the Clerk states in capitals that these calls are a scam (Clerk scam warning). Anyone in Vero Beach, Sebastian or Fellsmere who gets such a call can hang up and dial the Clerk at (772) 226-3100 to check the status of a real summons.

The federal court runs its own warnings. Its jury page lists a Fraudulent Court Jury Email Alert dated 09/14/2026 and earlier scam notices going back years (Southern District of Florida jury information). Because the Fort Pierce division draws Indian River names from voter rolls, a registered voter in Indian River Shores or Wabasso can receive a genuine federal questionnaire; the safe check is the court's published number, (800) 865-1775, rather than any number given in a call or message.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, against the Clerk's jury page, Jury Web, Florida Statutes chapter 40 and the federal court's jury pages.