Ignoring jury information request NYS

[Toller]

My son is 27. He hasn't lived in NY in 6 years. He has filed state income tax returns in California and has a CA drivers license.

A questionnaire has come to our house in NYS to him. It says that if he is no longer a NYS resident he can send them proof; a copy of his driver's license and tax return are adequate. He thinks the request is absurd and too much trouble, and is going to ignore it.

The website says failure to respond will result in civil and criminal penalties, but is not specific. Obviously they aren't going to California to arrest him, but if they fine him it could get ugly as the fines and penalties accumulate and they turn it over to a collection agency.

Would it make sense to mark on the envelop that he does not live here stick it back in the mailbox?

Yeah, it would be best if he just complied, but apparently that is not going to happen.

 

[quincy]

My son is 27. He hasn't lived in NY in 6 years. He has filed state income tax returns in California and has a CA drivers license.

A questionnaire has come to our house in NYS to him. It says that if he is no longer a NYS resident he can send them proof; a copy of his driver's license and tax return are adequate. He thinks the request is absurd and too much trouble, and is going to ignore it.

The website says failure to respond will result in civil and criminal penalties, but is not specific. Obviously they aren't going to California to arrest him, but if they fine him it could get ugly as the fines and penalties accumulate and they turn it over to a collection agency.

Would it make sense to mark on the envelop that he does not live here stick it back in the mailbox?

Yeah, it would be best if he just complied, but apparently that is not going to happen.

You can send it back, marking on the envelope that he no longer resides at that address.

I might stick the envelope in another envelope that includes a brief letter explaining that your son moved to California 6 years ago. You could provide his California address if you want to. If the county really wants verification, they can contact him there.

I actually agree with your son that it is a bit absurd for the state to expect someone who has lived out-of-state for six years to respond to such a notice.

 

[HighwayMan]

If he lived out of state for six years as you claim then how does he even know he got a notice?
It should have just been returned to sender - addressee unknown.

 

[quincy]

If he lived out of state for six years as you claim then how does he even know he got a notice?
It should have just been returned to sender - addressee unknown.

My parents still receive mail addressed to me, and I haven't lived at their address for far far longer than 6 years.

My mother calls on any mail that looks important, I'll have her open it, and then (usually) I'll have her dispose of it. She received a jury notice for me when I lived out of state, and she responded to it as I advised here. I was excused from jury duty and taken off the county's jury roster.

In Michigan, jury notices are sent on postcards, too, which helps with any privacy issues that might arise otherwise.

 

[cbg]

If he lived out of state for six years as you claim then how does he even know he got a notice?
It should have just been returned to sender - addressee unknown.

We still get mail addressed to my daughter here, and she hasn't lived at this address since 2005.

 

[You Are Guilty]

The problem is NY pulls its potential juror information from the public rolls - voter registration, DMV, public assistance, etc. If Sonnyboy has updated all his info to CA, NY would have no record of him in NY and wouldn't be sending him a juror questionnaire.

However, if he never plans on returning to NY, failing to complete it is unlikely to have consequences. Most counties do not fine "missing jurors" in absentia, they send out court officers and/or sheriffs to find, arrest and physically bring the involuntary jurors to the courthouse first.

 

[HighwayMan]

I was thinking more in terms of him being an adult living on his own and moving out of state. I was not thinking that he lived with his parents until he moved or having family at his old address to receive stray mail six years later.

 

[Toller]

I was thinking more in terms of him being an adult living on his own and moving out of state. I was not thinking that he lived with his parents until he moved or having family at his old address to receive stray mail six years later.

That is sorta it. However... we moved here two years ago and he has never used this address for anything. Still, he gets junk mail here, don't know how or why.
I have no idea why the county thinks he lives here, when he has never lived in this county.

 

[quincy]

That is sorta it. However... we moved here two years ago and he has never used this address for anything. Still, he gets junk mail here, don't know how or why.
I have no idea why the county thinks he lives here, when he has never lived in this county.

If you provided the post office with a change of address form when you moved, mail addressed to your son at your old address will generally be forwarded to your new address along with your own mail. If you did not or do not correct this with the post office, you will continue to get his mail. Junk mail is generally addressed to "a named individual or current resident."