ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - The Allen County Court of Common Pleas has reported a disturbing trend regarding citizens appearing after receiving a court summons.
According to both Allen County Judges Jeffrey Reed and Terri Kohlrieser, a large number of people are not appearing for their summoned jury duty obligations. The past few weeks have seen some cases almost not having the necessary amount of jurors seated for a trial.
"I started getting worried about, are people taking this serious or not," said Jeffrey Reed, Allen County Judge. "I summoned 70 people for the trial to begin yesterday, and I had 16 people show up and I looked at my list, I excused 10 or 15... but 16 out of 70 is very troubling."
When there are not enough potential jurors who show up after receiving a court summons, judges have the right to send the county sheriff out into the public to select random civilians to serve court summons.
Those who have failed to show up after that, or even those who failed to show up in the first place, can be held in contempt of court. Contempt of court hearings on potential jurors who have failed to show up this past week has already been scheduled for the end of September.
"Basically for a first offense, they can be fined up to $250," said Reed. "There is also provision specifically for someone who doesn't show up for jury service, they can get a jail sentence."
Another factor that Judge Reed points to is social media. According to the court, false postings have been made in the local area that recent court summons were "fake" and had a "forged" signature of court judges. Reed says that social media is often "irresponsible" and "unaccountable", and the recent false posting proves that point.
"I don't understand why people would follow that and say that ‘well if it is social media it must be true… so I'm going to ignore a court order because social media tells me to do that'," said Reed. "Again, irresponsible, unaccountable."
Those who have received court summons but have questions are urged to contact the court immediately. Judge Jeffrey Reed also states that many have a valid reason why they cannot appear in court, but need to relay that information before drastic measures need to be taken.
"I don't know if people just feel like they don't have to take it serious, but people have to understand the system of justice is built on participation by the citizens of the community on juries," said Reed.
