Non-Response/Failure-to-Appear Tool

To maximize jury yield, an important factor that needs to be explored is non-response or failure-to-appear rates. Nationally, jurors fail to appear for an average of 9% of all summonses, but FTA rates can range from less than 1% to more than 50% in some jurisdictions. About four out of every five courts conduct some type of follow-up on FTA jurors; however, the only approaches found to produce measurable reductions in FTA rates are those that issue a second notice or summons to the offending juror, and then, in the event that the recipient still does not respond, follows up with more aggressive tactics such as an order to show cause hearing or capias warrant. If applied consistently and in a timely manner, these procedures not only improve the response to jury summonses, but also increase the number of citizens who may be qualified to serve for jury duty. Additionally, as a result of having more qualified jurors available for jury service through follow up procedures, the Court may be able to reduce the number of qualification questions it mails annually, thus, saving printing, postage and staff processing costs. Click here for more information about best practices to follow up on jurors who fail to respond or failure to appear for jury service.

This Non-Response/Failure-to-Appear Tool collects information about existing follow-up procedures in the court, estimates the expected increase in juror yield that would result from implementing different follow-up programs, and estimates the anticipated fiscal impact of those follow- up programs. The report generated by the Non-Response/Failure to Appear Tool provides information about best practices to improve citizen response to jury summonses.