Summoned for jury duty in Chicago, Barack Obama will serve

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Former U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions at the Gates Foundation Inaugural Goalkeepers event on September 20, 2017 in New York City.

Apparently, not even an ex-leader of the free world can escape jury duty — a job average citizens frequently try to avoid.

Former President Barack Obama will serve on a jury in Cook County sometime next month, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

Chief Judge Tim Evans told county commissioners this week that although Obama resides in Washington, D.C., the former president will report for duty next month, the publication reported. The gig also offers pay that’s far below what Obama is used to: Cook County jurors earn less than $20 per day.

Every effort is being taken to maintain the security of the former president, Evans told the Tribune: “His safety will be uppermost in our minds.” For that reason, Evans did not release further details about when or where exactly Obama will serve.

Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 and worked as a civil rights lawyer for a small Chicago firm. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

It does not appear that Obama asked for an exemption. “He made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community,” the Tribune reported Evans as saying.

The full story can be found on the Chicago Tribune’s website.