Barack Obama reportedly plans to show up for jury duty next month after being called to serve in Illinois.
The former US President has said that he will fulfill his obligations on the jury, the chief judge of Cook County Circuit Court said on Friday.
“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,” Tim Evans, chief judge of the court, told the Chicago Tribune.
“Obviously we will make certain that he has all the accoutrements that accompany a former president. His safety will be uppermost in our minds.
The 56-year-old former Democrat leader is registered to vote in Illinois as he owns a property in Chicago.
It is not yet known which courthouse Obama has been summoned to, nor the exact date he will carry out his duties.
“Although it’s not a place where the public can earn a lot of money, it is highly appreciated,” Evans said of Obama’s decision to serve. “It’s crucial that our society get the benefit of that kind of commitment.”
The Hill notes that, although Obama is willing to serve on a jury, he is unlikely to be selected.
The former US President has not yet commented on the matter.
It is not the first time that Obama has been called to sit on a jury.
At the end of 2009, court officials in Cook County previously summoned him for jury duty.
Obama is not the first high-profile US politician - or even former president - to report for jury duty.
In 2015 George W. Bush was pictured wearing a ‘juror’ badge in Dallas.
Bush was previously called for jury duty while serving as governor of Texas in 1996 and in 2005 while he was serving a president.
Obama would also join Oprah Winfrey as one of Cook County’s most famour jurors. She served on a jury in 2004 that convicted a man of first-degree murder.