A Kansas City bride who received a jury summons for her wedding day in Italy has been officially excused after her TikTok about the clash went viral.
Katrina Badowski, 35, opened her mailbox on Aug. 14 to find a notice ordering her to report for one week of jury duty beginning Monday — the same day she was scheduled to marry Billie Rodriguez, 42, more than 5,000 miles away in Rome. The couple had already booked and paid for flights, venues and vendors for their destination wedding when the summons arrived.
“My jaw physically dropped like a cartoon,” Badowski told KSHB outside the Wyandotte County District Court, where she appeared wearing a white dress. She recalled the exact moment she saw the date on the notice. “I was so shocked to see that date.”
Badowski later shared the summons in a TikTok clip that has since accumulated 1.4 million views. “The odds of you getting summoned for jury duty on your wedding day are low, but never zero,” she wrote in the video. She added a pointed caption: “The government wants to be involved in my marriage SO BAD.”
The bride faced genuine legal jeopardy if she simply ignored the summons. Kansas law allows fines of $100 per missed day of jury duty, and absences can result in a contempt of court charge. Badowski found herself torn between civic obligation and a once-in-a-lifetime celebration she had spent months planning.
“I find it deeply ironic that I haven’t been summoned for jury duty in over a decade, as I would genuinely welcome the opportunity,” she said. “I’ve always thought it would be fascinating to experience that civic responsibility, particularly for a complex or high-profile case.”
“[But] Because of the nature of our destination wedding, with all flights, venues, and vendors booked and paid for, it is entirely impossible for me to attend,” she continued.
Badowski emailed court officials to explain her predicament, and the situation was resolved without her having to appear. She received a brief but warm response from the court: “Received and excused you from jury duty. Thank you and congratulations.”
Her TikTok drew an outpouring of comments from social media users who claimed similar experiences with poorly timed summonses. “Got called for jury duty on my 18th birthday,” one TikTokker wrote. “Told em [sic] I had a snowboarding trip and they let me off.” An Instagram user shared another extreme example: “I got jury duty for the day I gave birth.”
Other commenters took a lighter approach to Badowski’s dilemma. Some called the summons “poetic,” while one suggested the entire jury pool should simply be invited along to her foreign nuptials.
Badowski and Rodriguez are now cleared to proceed with their Rome wedding as planned.