Posted on 11/29/2015 5:05:11 PM PST by Elderberry
A 76-year-old woman lamented to McLennan County District Clerk Jon Gimble recently that she had been summoned for jury duty five times in her life and had been passed over each time.
"She really wanted to serve," Gimble said. "She was so disappointed. Unfortunately, we don't run across too many people like that these days."
And the trend seems to be getting worse. On average, 70 percent of potential jurors summoned in McLennan County don’t bother to respond to the notices.
The no-show rate is similar in Lubbock and Bell counties but worse in Taylor County, where an average of 25 percent of people called for jury duty actually bother to come to court.
Troubled by the low turnout, Gimble and McLennan County state district judges have met and think it's time for the free ride for those who ignore jury notices to come to an end.
"I think as citizens, people should be prepared to perform their civic duties and serve as citizen jurors," 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson said. "It is one of the best characteristics of our criminal and civil justice system in the United States, and their participation is essential."
Beginning the first of the year, Johnson and 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother plan to issue writs of attachments or show-cause orders for potential jurors who fail to respond to jury notices.
If a writ of attachment is ordered, deputies will escort the no-show to court. In show-cause orders, officials contact the person in some way and tell them to come to court prepared to explain to a judge why they didn't report for jury duty.
The Texas Government Code provides for a fine of from $100 to $1,000 for people who fail to answer a jury summons.
"If you have a valid reason, you might get out of here without a fine," Johnson said. "But it is a real possibility if people who are capable of serving disregard a jury summons. They should expect to be fined."
Strother also said people with legitimate excuses might not have to worry about being fined. People who can't make it a particular day can always contact the court or Gimble's office and be rescheduled for another time, he said.
"We are talking about people who got a summons and just blew it off. That kind of gets our attention and is just not acceptable," Strother said. "I am reluctant to mete out harsh circumstances unless they are flagrant refusals. I have done a few. Most of the time, people forget it and it is usually harmless. But our participation rate is low enough that we need to address the issue and remind people that this is a serious undertaking. Jury duty is not a pleasant duty to have to perform, but it is necessary and very important."
Jury pool change
Judge Jim Meyer of Waco's 170th State District Court said the diminishing numbers reporting for jury duty started about 20 years ago, when the law changed to add licensed drivers to the list summoned for jury duty. Before, jury pools were taken from a roster of registered voters, "who are already wanting to take part in the process," Meyer said.
Meyer said he noted a particularly low turnout last month when a special panel was summoned to hear what would have been the trial of the first West explosion lawsuits. But he attributed that to pretrial publicity that warned potential jurors that the trial could last from six to eight weeks.
The case ended up settling the weekend before trial.
"I am supportive of what the other judges want to do," Meyer said. "This is a statewide problem. Counties throughout the state are having to do this kind of thing because so many people are ignoring jury summons."
Of 200 people called for the first West case, 70 showed up for jury duty, officials said.
With high-profile cases involving the Twin Peaks biker shootout, the next West explosion trial, set now for Feb. 1, and a lawsuit in which Baylor University is suing the Baylor Alumni Association, large jury panels will be needed to seat a jury.
Saving time, money
On the bright side, Gimble said new software and equipment are allowing cost-cutting and time-saving changes in the jury summons process.
A new, smaller jury summons design that no longer has to be folded and tabbed will cut postal costs in half and save two or three hours a month in processing time for two or three employees.
The changes will save the county about $10,000 a year in printing and postage, Gimble said.
Meagan Beltran, jury clerk in Taylor County, said judges in Abilene have not issued show-cause orders in at least 15 years but said they have been discussing it more as turnout declines.
Lubbock County District Clerk Barbara Sucsy said judges in Lubbock issued show-cause orders for recalcitrant jurors about 15 years ago, and levels of those who showed up increased dramatically for the next six months before returning to normal. She said her office got more than 900 phone calls in the following week from people double-checking to make sure they had been given credit for showing up for jury duty.
"It didn't take long for things to go back like they were," Sucsy said. "If they are getting 30 percent in McLennan County, that is a good rate. If they figure out how to increase that, call me back."
I’ve been summoned once or twice a year for forty years or so.
Yeah, they don’t want anything that knows anything. They just want the jury to “do what they are told”. (I actually heard this from a district judge.)
I lived in my county for 27 years and never got called until last year. I was retired, so missing work did not matter, but I never thought they would choose me because of my conservative values. Well, the only question the attorneys asked me was if I was related to the defendant ( we share a common last name, and I was not related). Interesting case and experience with the system, and we the jury sent an obvious child molester to jail.
I had someone describe how they tossed their summonses in the trash; since they weren’t certified they felt they could get away with it (and they did).
I’m to the west of Texas.
Our entire county has a full time citizen population of about 10,000 people And that is counting children.
We do have some somewhat similar exemptions, but you have to jump through a bunch of hoops, and it is completely up to each of the three or four district judges that rotate through the County Court whether you are excused from his /her trials.
I was called to jury duty and when I showed up there were about 150 people waiting. We waited 1 day and went home. A very long day of sitting and reading and daydreaming. The 2nd day I show up and waited several hours not knowing what is going to happen. We finally get called up to the courtroom area and there is more waiting. Now led into the courtroom where we are told the defendant (who is there) stated he started the fight with some guy but he wanted a jury trial.
I heard people being interviewed and there were some funny excuses being made to get out. Hours of this. I planned on saying the truth. The guy says he is guilty. Why are we here at all?
The arrogant judge told one women who stated she had a trip coming up to England in a few days. He told her that she may not be going!
Who the $#@! is he?!
I was never interviewed. The next day we all had to show up and after being led into the courtroom we were told the defendant decided to pled guilty (he did not show up).
So you had 150 people who in most cases are not paid by their employer who had to show up for some one who stated he was GUILTY before all this started! A complete waste of time and lots of money!!
I'm a bit miffed that I have never been called to jury duty, since I do consider myself a “peer” in my community.
OTOH, if what minnesota_bound said is even partially typical of summoned jurists experiences, I would have a very different opinion of the whole process. But no matter what, I'm not a fan of punishment for citi()ens who for whatever reason, eschew jury duty. I'd probably get in trouble, if what I hear about plea bargains happened while I was seated on a jury, and would wind up in jail myself!
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