Why Won't They Come? A Study of Juror Nonresponse and Failure-to-Appear in Harris County, Texas

In 2023, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and RTI International (RTI), partnered with the Harris County District Clerk’s office, which oversees jury operations for the Harris County District Court, to investigate the incidence of failure to respond to a jury summons or failure to appear (FTA) for a reporting date in the greater Houston area. This report describes the study data and methods, findings, and conclusions and recommendations for jury operations in the Harris County District Court.

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The Harris County District Clerk randomly selected 5,000 records from jurors who failed to respond or failed to appear for jury service since July 1, 2022 to receive one of two surveys exploring beliefs, attitudes, and experience with jury service. Half of these individuals received a letter from Harris County District Clerk directing them to log on to an online survey platform that asked them explicitly why they failed to respond/appear (Version 1). The other half received a letter asking jurors to log on to the online survey platform to assist the District Clerk in learning why some people don’t respond/appear for jury service (Version 2).

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Conclusion and Recommendations

Problems related to the delivery of jury summonses by USPS appear to be significantly related to nonresponse and failure-to-appear rates in Harris County. Nearly 5% of the survey letters were returned and marked undeliverable, leading to the reasonable conclusion that those individuals likewise did not receive the jury summons. More than one-third of Survey 1 respondents reported not receiving a jury summons, despite having lived at their address for more than 24 months. A similar proportion of Survey 2 respondents cited not receiving the summons as a frequent reason why jurors fail to respond or appear for service. Thus, a sizeable proportion of the nonresponse and FTA rate may be unreturned undeliverable summons rather than recalcitrant jurors.

In addition, several respondents and interviewees reported that the summons was received too late for them to make arrangements to serve, including after the reporting date had already passed. Timely mail delivery also appears to be problematic with respect to documentation (doctor’s affidavits, for example) that were mailed back to the court. As a result, some survey respondents were misidentified as jurors who failed to respond or appear for jury service when, in fact, the documentation to be exempt or excused from jury service was not received by the court in a timely manner.

Because inaccurate and stale addresses contribute both to the known undeliverable rate for jury summons and to at least some portion of the nonresponse and FTA rates, the District Clerk should also confirm whether the Secretary of State routinely employs practices intended to ensure the accuracy of addresses, including refreshing the master list at least annually and employing an NCOA vendor to update addresses for individuals who have filed a forwarding address with USPS. If these practices are not routinely employed during the master jury list creation process, the Harris County District Clerk should implement them locally before summoning jurors from the new list. In addition, the District Clerk should explore the feasibility of maintaining a database of record changes reported by jurors (e.g., name changes, address changes) as well as jury summonses returned as undeliverable by the USPS.

To improve jurors’ comprehension of website information about how to request an excusal, deferral, or other assistance, the court website's FAQs should be written as plain English questions. For example:

I have a physical or mental impairment that prevents me from serving. How can I be excused from jury service?
I cannot drive to the courthouse. Can the Court help with transportation?
Can I reschedule my jury service to a more convenient date?

About one-quarter of Survey 1 respondents believed that they were either ineligible for jury service or could claim an exemption, but they nevertheless failed to inform the court. Some may believe that the District Clerk already possesses that information, making it unnecessary for them to expressly notify the Court. The single most important directive expressed in the jury summons is that the prospective juror must respond to the jury summons, ideally by preregistering on the District Clerk’s Jury website or alternatively by returning the completed juror qualification questionnaire by mail or in person. Completing this fundamental step, which includes providing contact information for future communication, provides Jury Services staff with sufficient information to follow up on incomplete or missing documentation in a timely manner.

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Over the past two decades, many courts have adopted the use of postcards to summon jurors, rather than full letter-sized jury summonses. The District Clerk should consider a pilot test to determine whether this approach would improve response rates.

Finally, many jurors who agreed to be interviewed expressed reservations about having to travel to downtown Houston, even if juror compensation and other travel barriers were addressed. To assuage their concerns, the District Court might consider implementing a cooperative agreement with Harris County Justice of the Peace Courts, which are located in heavily populated areas throughout the county, to allow qualified jurors to serve in those courts rather than having to travel to downtown.