Since April, dozens of people have failed to show up for jury duty, and the problem is so prevalent that Judge Jennifer Mabey issued court orders asking the prospective jurors to come in to explain themselves.
So far, in 2024, more than 50 Wasatch County residents have been charged with contempt of court for failing to appear for jury duty.
That’s a steep increase from fewer than a dozen contempt charges in 2022 and 2023 combined.
Utah State Courts communications director Tania Mashburn said when the prospective jurors appeared in court, they gave a range of reasons they failed to answer the call for jury duty.
“Many of them are claiming not to have received the email in the first place,” she said. “But that wasn’t the only reason. Other people said that they were afraid to open the emails because of scams going around – they thought maybe it wasn’t really from the courts.”
Others told the judge they don’t check their emails often and simply didn’t see the summons.
Mabey has dismissed all the contempt charges brought against the missing prospective jurors so far. About a dozen cases from this month are still pending.
Mashburn said other judges haven’t reported problems summoning jurors. She said Mabey plans to change her jury selection process in response to the issue.
“Her and her team will go back to an in-person jury selection, so it won’t be virtual anymore,” she said. “They’ll send out a combination of email and snail mail summons for jury service, and so hopefully more people will get that.”
It’s up to individual judges how they summon prospective jurors.
Mashburn said people concerned about potential scams should look out for requests for money or personal information. She said that’s a telltale sign the message isn’t really coming from the courts.
Failure to appear for jury duty can come with legal consequences, including fines or jail time, if a judge finds a jury summons was deliberately ignored.
