Things are much tighter in courts now than they used to be. I was called for jury duty once & going from 1 building to the next had different rules. You could have needles & scissors in the first one but not the second one -- just depended on the court. Now we have to go thru metal detectors just to get inside any court building so I doubt you could get by. Best thing to do is call though. It might not be so tight.
Here when you are called to jury duty, you get a number & have to call in 3 times a day until your number is given a time & a court to show up at. At the end of the week, if your number is not called, you are off the hook until your name gets selected again. I agree everyone should have to serve on at least 1 trial & there has to be a better way to pick a jury.