Several residents have reported receiving phone calls claiming they failed to appear for jury duty and that if they do not take immediate action, they will be arrested. According to Allen County Sheriff Matt Treglia, these calls are fraudulent.
It was a busy Tuesday evening for the president, Board of Trustees, and cabinet members at Rhodes State College. The Rhodes State Board held their regular meeting earlier Tuesday evening.
Judge Terri Kohlrieser held hearings for a couple of people that she issued bench warrants for on Friday after they didn't appear for their contempt of court hearings for not showing up for jury service. The judges are trying to curb a problem they have been seeing of people failing to appear for jury duty without showing just cause after they have been summoned.
Lima, OH (WLIO) - Allen County Common Pleas Court is letting people know that if they skip out on jury duty, they will be facing the judge themselves. Judge Jeffrey Reed and Judge Terri Kohlrieser both held contempt of court hearings for people who failed to show up for jury duty and could not show just cause for not showing up after they were served a summons to do so. A total of 10 people were fined today for failing to appear for jury duty, and three other people had bench warrants issued on them for not showing up for their contempt of court hearing. The judges told Your News Now that more and more people are not showing up to serve as jurors after receiving a court summons which has been affecting the court system. So, they are charging the people with a crime who don't reach out to the court before hand to try and get excused from jury duty. Recently, Judge Reed sent out 70 summonses for one trial and only 17 people reported for jury duty.
Allen County Sheriff Matt Treglia is warning residents about the most recent scam of bogus calls demanding money because you haven't shown up for jury duty. Sheriff Treglia says they have had several individuals call them after the fact that they think they have been scammed.
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. 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.
