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Ignore Jury Summons - Consequences?

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J

joeyblow

Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Okla

I received a state district court jury summons by regular mail. There is no proof I received it. What happens if I ignore it?

Do they send out a second summons? Is it registered or otherwise served in a verifiable fashion? If not, how do they prove receipt?

What eventually happens?
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
It probably says right on it what CAN happen. In most states, you are subject to covil or criminal penalties for ignoring it.

It's not that hard to get out of jury duty ... people do it all the time (sadly enough). So I doubt you will have a problem.

- Carl
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
In my state, they will send you a second notice and if you still do not respond, they will send you an ultimatum; show up for jury service on such and such a date or face the penalty. I don't remember what the penalty was, but one of my employees brought me such a notice that she had received because she was scheduled to work that day and needed the day off to serve.

BTW, she received the "ultimatum" notice something like two years after the day she initially blew off the first notice, so if there is no immediate repercussion do NOT assume that it will go away.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
You can contact the courthouse (anonymously by telephone) to get more information about this or have someone else call and get the information for you. It would not be wise to ignore it--can possibly face contempt of court on this. You can find out what the valid reasons are for not being available to see if it applies to you.
 
J

joeyblow

Guest
Thank you all for replies.

Yes, the summons says you can be held in contempt for not appearing.

However, contempt is a deliberate act, so I still don't see how someone can be held in contempt of court without proof of such an act.

I mean, it is certainly possible for someone not to receive a jury summons sent by regular mail. In fact, out of the millions mailed throughout the country, this must happen sometimes. Although it may be unusual, it is not particularly unbelievable that a second notice might not be received.

So, some poor schmuck who is unfortunate enough not to have received their notices will face potential fines and imprisonment? That does not seem right. It just seems like contempt would require more substantial proof that the order was actually received, like delivery through a process server or registered mail, so that there is reasonable evidence that the person truly just ignored it.

Oh, to answer Night_on_Earth's question, I don't want to go because it is an enormously inefficient waste of time and I have better things to do.
 

AHA

Senior Member
Oh, lord, what a wonderful world we would be living in if we could use the excuse "got lost in the mail". Everyone would be bill free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Need I say more?
Just do your jury duty and be done with it! It might be a case that is over in just hours. Why would anyone create more problems for themselves instead of just getting it over with? I'll never understand that. I take care of business right away, that way I can sleep at night and never have to worry about unpleasant surprises hitting me in the back of the head years later.
 
J

joeyblow

Guest
I have a question and could someone please answer this?
Why does everyone want to get off jury duty?
Because the jury selection system in general sucks but our local system here REALLY sucks.

You show up on Monday at 8:00 a.m. You sit around with a pool of 300 people waiting to see if your name will be called. If so, you go to a courtroom. Maybe you get called to the panel for voire dire (spelling?) or maybe you don't. If the jury is picked before you voire dire or if you are challenged off the jury panel, you are not finished: YOU GO BACK TO THE JURY POOL to possibly be called by another judge.

Now...get this...if you get selected for a jury and the trial ends before Friday....YOU GO BACK TO THE POOL! That's right...you WILL NOT finish your jury service before the week is out NO MATTER WHAT. It is possible to serve on several trials, or none, during this week. God help you if you get a a jury on Friday because you will be back the next week if the trial doesn't complete that day.




Oh, lord, what a wonderful world we would be living in if we could use the excuse "got lost in the mail". Everyone would be bill free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Need I say more?
Just do your jury
Bills are not a good analogy. I know who I owe money to. The bill is really just a courtesy reminder. I have loans where I don't receive a bill. I just have a coupon book and I have to remember to send in the payment.

But, I have no way of knowing that I have been summoned to jury until I receive the notice. If a jury notice really is lost in the mail, then it is my understanding that this can result in the person it was meant for facing potential fines and/or jail time. That sounds completely unreasonable (unconstitutional??) to me. I can't believe it is right. I'm stunned. I am curious as to whether this is can really be true and by what legal principle a court can act in such a fashion.
 

stephenk

Senior Member
you will get at least two other notices before you are slammed. unless you have verified mail delivery problems, the "I didn't receive it" excuse won't fly. Just remember, when you later get charged with contempt remember to request a jury trial.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Again, I am talking only about my state. Other states may do things differently. But I not only get my jury duty notice, IN A SEPARATE MAILING I also get a booklet of juror instructions. What are the chances that BOTH of them will "get lost in the mail"?

That excuse WILL NOT FLY. Accept it, either get the jury duty over with, or find some way to get excused. But just forget about the idea that you can ignore the notice with no consequences.
 
N

Night_on_Earth

Guest
In Ohio, you only get a single mailing. If you do not show up, you receive a phone call. Using the "didn't get it" excuse will get you an alternate date.

They're taking it seriously as well they should. Waste of time or not, it's a small price to pay for being a citizen of this country.
 

Dee30

Junior Member
I live in WV.

I was summoned for jury duty last month. The judge gave us an orientation and told us that we would need to be available for the next session which ends in January. After orientation, we had the chance to personally talk to the judge about why we didn't want to serve. We could be excused if we had a financial hardship where we couldn't AFFORD to take time off from work, medical necessity, or anything else that the judge would take into consideration.

The only bothersome part of being on jury duty for 4 months is the fact that we have to call the clerk's office every evening to see if we have to show up the next day. The judge also told us that if we had a vacation or appointment, let the clerk know at least 2 weeks in advance and they won't call us for duty.

I was called in yesterday for a civil trial...out of 30 jurors, I was 1 of the 7 who was picked. (6 jurors and 1 alternate). After sending us to the the jury room for about 45 minutes, both parties settled the case without our assistance. It's NOT bad at all.

BTW, the pay for us is $40 a day plus 37 cents a mile....so I'm looking at $55 a day every time I step foot in the courtroom. BUT we don't get paid until the end of the session. :(
 
J

joeyblow

Guest
you will get at least two other notices before you are slammed. unless you have verified mail delivery problems, the "I didn't receive it" excuse won't fly.
The consensus seems to be to expect a total of three notices before the ax falls but I guess this may not be the same everywhere.

Anyway, it works for me. Three notices probably delay things quite a bit. At least I can spread out the time.

Just remember, when you later get charged with contempt remember to request a jury trial.
Sure. If I must suffer they must suffer.

Waste of time or not, it's a small price to pay for being a citizen of this country.
I wouldn't mind so much if the local approach wasn't such an outrageously incompetent system that totally disrespects the time of the citizens it calls.
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
If everyone thought it was a waste of time, no one would ever serve. And please don't try to use the excuse that you never received it--it's been done many times before and no one ever gets away with it. Where is your patriotic sense of duty and citzenship?
 

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