I mean, is courtroom attendance mandatory when given a summons? What are the repercussions for failing to turn up during the appointed date and time? I know that they have Voir Dire and names of American citizens are selected randomly from the electoral roll (the same one used for federal elections on selecting a new president in office) unless you renounced US citizenship which rescinds both your right to vote and potential jury duty.
I’ve had summons twice now. First time (TX), I had to go to court. I sat there for half an hour while the judge figured out whether they’d have cases that required a jury. Someone came and gave the judge a memo and we were told no jury was needed and got released.
The second time (NC), I just called some time before to find out if they’d need me to attend, and they did not.
So just because you get a summons doesn’t mean you’ll have to show up in a courtroom, and even if you do you may not need to go through jury selection. However, you should show up unless you’re told not to. I’d suggest looking for state laws to understand repercussions of not doing so, as I’m sure it’s different everywhere.