California will let jurors 80 and older opt out for good, without a doctor's note.

The new option starts January 1, 2028

California Assembly Bill 1359, authored by Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, becomes operative on January 1, 2028. It permits an eligible person who is 80 or older to seek a permanent excuse from jury service because of a medical impairment without submitting a supporting letter, memorandum, or note from a treating health care provider.

The person must submit a written attestation stating that the person has an impairment. Upon receipt of that attestation by the jury commissioner, the court must permanently excuse the person.

The law does not require anyone age 80 or older to stop serving. A person over 80 who wants to continue serving may do so. The person must request the excuse, and the law does not create an automatic age cutoff.

The California Senior Legislature sponsored the bill. Supporters listed in the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis were the Alzheimer's Association, LeadingAge California, and the Retired Public Employees Association of California. The analysis listed no known opposition. Recorded votes were 11-0 in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, 13-1 in Assembly Appropriations, and 73-1 on the Assembly floor.

California has no blanket age exemption

Code of Civil Procedure section 204(a) provides that no eligible person may be exempt from trial jury service because of occupation, economic status, or other listed characteristics, “or for any other reason.” Section 204(b) permits an excuse only for undue hardship to the person or the public, as defined by the Judicial Council.

The existing rules distinguish between an excuse for a particular summons and a permanent medical excuse.

California Rules of Court, rule 2.1008(d), identifies undue hardship grounds for a per-summons excuse. One ground is a physical or mental disability or impairment that does not affect the person's competence to act as a juror but would expose the person to an undue risk of mental or physical harm. Unless the person is age 70 or older, the court may require verification of the impairment, its probable duration, and why the person cannot serve.

A person excused under that rule remains in the jury pool. The person may be summoned again and must assert the impairment each time.

Rule 2.1009 governs a permanent medical excuse. The applicant submits a written request to the jury commissioner with a supporting letter, memorandum, or note from a treating health care provider on official letterhead. The provider must state that the person has a permanent disability that makes the person incapable of performing jury service.

The jury commissioner decides the request and must notify the applicant in writing. The commissioner may deny it only if the rule's requirements were not satisfied. A denied applicant may reapply. Information submitted with the request is confidential. A person may withdraw a permanent medical excuse at any time by submitting a signed written request to the jury commissioner.

The bill removes the provider-letter requirement for older applicants

The author's stated reason for AB 1359 was the burden of arranging a health care appointment, obtaining a note, and submitting it to the court to receive a permanent excuse. Ahrens described the change in press coverage by saying seniors “will no longer have to jump through hoops.”

CalMatters reported that the bill followed a constituent's account of the difficulty of obtaining an exemption for her elderly husband. The constituent, Dianne McKenna, was a former Santa Clara County supervisor.

When the Archivar editorial desk compared the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis with the final bill summary, it found that the June analysis addressed the January 5, 2026 version of the bill, which did not yet contain the January 1, 2028 start date or the written-attestation language. Both provisions were added by later amendment. The desk also reviewed current rule 2.1009 side by side and noted that it already allows a person to withdraw a permanent medical excuse by signed written request.

The law therefore changes the documentation required for the new category of applicants. It does not eliminate the need for an impairment. A person age 80 or older must still attest in writing that the person has one.

Florida provides a different age-based rule. Under Florida Statutes section 40.013(8), a person age 70 or older must be excused from jury service upon request.

The Judicial Council still must write the mechanics

AB 1359 authorizes the Judicial Council to adopt or amend a rule of court and publish related judicial forms to implement the new process. The statute does not itself provide the attestation form or describe every filing step.

That means the mechanics are not written yet. Until January 1, 2028, rule 2.1008 governs per-summons excuses, including its treatment of applicants age 70 or older, and rule 2.1009 governs permanent medical excuses requiring a provider letter.

After the operative date, people age 80 and older who submit the required attestation can be permanently excused rather than face repeated summonses for the same impairment. Over time, jury pools may contain different numbers of people in older age groups. The law sets no number and does not predict a particular change in venire composition.

Practitioners who follow Judicial Council rule proposals and invitations to comment will see the proposed rule changes and forms there. The statute authorizes that work, but the final procedure remains to be issued.

Summons questions will have different answers after 2028

The law concerns service as a juror. It does not change the obligations of parties or witnesses of any age, and it does not create a blanket age exemption.

Clients and family members of clients who are 80 or older may ask counsel about jury summonses. Before January 1, 2028, the answer remains in the existing rules. A per-summons excuse may be available under rule 2.1008, while a permanent medical excuse requires the provider documentation described in rule 2.1009. After January 1, 2028, an eligible person may use the new written-attestation path.

Archivar is an operating system for a law firm that answers every call 24/7 in English and Spanish, runs intake, manages matters, and remembers everything the firm does. A change like this produces practical calls from clients and their families, such as an older client asking about a jury summons. Those questions, and the dates that answer them (the existing rules until January 1, 2028, and the attestation path after that date), belong in the firm's records.

The operative date is January 1, 2028, and the new option applies to people age 80 or older.

A written attestation of an impairment replaces the treating health care provider's letter for the new permanent excuse.

The Judicial Council rule and forms needed to implement the process are still to come.