Authorities Target Jury Duty No-Shows

For some people, jury duty can be an inconvenience, but there’s one thing to remember: it’s not optional.

Ignoring a jury summons for failure to appear to jury duty can cost you not only time but money. Already this month, 19 people have been arrested after failing to appear in court.

“Show up. Show up,” said Alex Trejo, who ignored a jury summons a few months back. “I couldn’t because of work. I was being sent out of town.

He said he made all the proper arrangements but that the court made a mistake.

“A couple of months later, I get a summons for failure to appear to jury duty and now I’m getting possible court fines and possible jail time.”

If you a have a driver’s license, you will be called to serve for jury duty. Twenty-thousand people are summoned to jury duty every month.

“John Adams said the right to elect our leaders and the right to a jury trial are the heart and lungs to liberty, ” said Patrick Garcia, the administrative judge for El Paso’s Council of Judges.

Garcia said that serving on a jury is an integral part of the justice system.

“It’s not a perfect system, but the jury system is the best way of resolving disputes between citizens in the state of Texas and between ourselves in civil matters.”

Garcia said El Paso’s jury pool is mostly responsive, with 80 percent of those summoned showing up.

Five percent get excused and, “The other 15 are no-shows and that’s the ones we pursue. We feel it’s important for those who actually show up for jury service, if they’re sacrificing their time people just can’t say, ‘Well, I’m going to ignore it.'”

After pleading his case, Trejo’s mix-up was cleared. But he still has to come back for jury duty.

“Thankfully, I just have to come back. So it’s not a big deal,” Trejo said. “I’ll make arrangements from work, and I’m coming in.”

Skipping jury duty isn’t a criminal charge, but the fines can be hefty, ranging from $25 to $1,500, in addition to $225 in court costs and up to six months in jail.

Garcia says if you receive a summons and can’t be there, call to make arrangements, but don’t ignore it.