(1) A judge of the court or clerk of court shall excuse a person from acting as a juror upon a showing of undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the person, the person’s family, the person’s employer or the public served by the person. In applying this subsection the judge or clerk of court shall carefully consider and weigh both the public need for juries which are representative of the full community and the individual circumstances offered as a justification for excuse from jury service. A person may request and be granted excuse from jury service under this subsection by means of telephone communication, mail or other method prescribed by the court.
(2) Notwithstanding ORS 10.030 (4), a judge may, by own motion, excuse a juror whose presence on the jury would substantially impair the progress of the action on trial or prejudice the parties thereto.
(3) A judge of the court or clerk of court shall excuse a person from acting as a juror upon the request of that person if the person is 70 years of age or older. A person may request and be granted excuse from jury service under this subsection by means of telephone communication, mail or other method prescribed by the court.
(4) A judge of the court or clerk of court shall excuse a woman from acting as a juror upon the request of the woman if the woman is breast-feeding a child. A request for excuse from jury service under this subsection must be made in writing or other method prescribed by the court.
(5) Unless the public need for juries in the court outweighs the individual circumstances of the person summoned, a judge of the court or clerk of court shall excuse a person from acting as a juror upon the request of that person if the person is the sole caregiver for a child or other dependent during the court’s normal hours of operation, the person is unable to afford day care or make other arrangements for the care of the dependent, and the person personally attends to the dependent during the court’s normal hours of operation.