It’s About Citizenship
When duty calls, too many ignore the summons

By CHARLES BACARISSE
Harris County District Clerk

You may remember the jury assembly room in use in the late 1980s: wooden pews, walls yellowed by the constant cigarette smoke, vending machines for snacks. It was crowded, too, because lots of registered voters showed up when summoned for jury duty.
It’s different today. Even though the county plans to build a more efficient jury room, the present one has soft seats with arm rests, art on the walls, vending machines plus a real person selling Starbucks coffee, freshly made breakfast items and fruit. It’s not crowded very often. That’s because large numbers of persons called choose to ignore the summons.
The fact that about 40 percent of those summoned simply ignore the summons might be the biggest frustration of my ten years as district clerk. I have no gripe with the 30 percent or so who claim an exemption or disqualification. We’ve whittled the undeliverable mail to about 12 percent, which is fairly good for direct mail in a very mobile society like ours.
The low rate of turn-out exists despite the fact that we have made it easier than ever for potential jurors to serve. Ten years ago, we instituted a bus pass program with Metro. We later established a 24/7 touch-tone phone line for persons summoned to use to reschedule their service date, then in 1999 made it possible to reschedule via computer (through the District Clerk’s website: www.hcdistrictclerk.com or through the Harris County website: www.co.harris.tx.us). We have since enhanced the websites so that potential jurors can claim exemptions and qualifications through either website.
We are also trying to encourage potential jurors’ response with a new program introduced in March of this year. We began sending Failure to Appear notices to those who did not respond to their summons. These notices are sent to those called for duty on Monday, the day of greatest need. Twenty-five percent of those who get the notice respond in some fashion. This has improved our efficiency greatly and will extend the life of the jury wheel.
I am really thankful for the 18-20 percent who show up to serve. Our justice system could not run without them. Accused persons have a fundamental right to a trial by jury, but that right means nothing unless enough fair-minded persons can be assembled to allow picking a proper jury.
I suspect most of those who appear for duty are thankful that they are American citizens empowered to work for justice and trusted to decide crucial facts and make life-changing decisions affecting their peers. I also suspect most of them know or sense they should be thankful to our forebears, the patriots who launched this experiment in self-government, who bled and are bleeding to preserve and defend their rights, the parents and teachers who drilled such values into their children.
All that might sound a bit harsh, even accusatory. It is warranted for several reasons.
You might have seen the recent insert in the Houston Chronicle promoting jury service. The front cover headline was “When duty calls . . . good citizens answer.” Even that may seem harsh to those who think citizenship is a free ride, with many privileges and no duties. My conclusion is that individuals who do grasp the link respond to a jury summons more often than those who do not recognize the connection.
I also have some hard facts. Harris County called only registered voters for jury duty until September 1, 1992, when we started calling persons with Texas driver’s licenses or Texas IDs. To staff the jury panels, we were summoning 8,000 persons a week. Working with the Office of Court Administration, we determined there were 2,487 jury panels sent to the district and county criminal courts in 1992.
In 2004, utilizing a combination of lists of registered voters, TDL holders and Texas ID holders, we called 16,000 persons a week – twice as many as in 1992 – to staff 1,861 panels. In other words, we called twice as many people to staff 25 percent fewer panels.
It is about citizenship.
There are numerous non-citizens among those holding Texas driver’s licenses and Texas IDs. By law, they are not eligible for jury service, which is prominently stated on the flier and summons they receive. Even so, that is no excuse for just tossing the summons. These non-citizens should complete and return the form on the back of the summons by mail or fax. They also can contact us by phone or even e-mail, a feature added a few years ago. I strongly believe that they should respect our system enough to respond and not waste the taxpayers’ dollars, directly or indirectly.
Unfortunately, there is also a great deal of poor citizenship among those who are eligible. Perhaps some never learned from their parents or teachers that rights are won and held by sacrifice and that the flip side of any right is a duty. Some so often have heard the outdated rhetoric about the system being unfair that they refuse to ensure it is fair by participating. For whatever reason, a problem exists.
Some – wealthy and poor – just can’t be bothered, even though they can easily reset their service to another time. Some – wealthy and poor – will never recoup the money they won’t make if they attend.
You could argue the wealthy have more to lose by not participating. But that ignores how juries can ensure justice, protecting the weak from the more powerful. Every one of us has a big stake in the jury system and important reasons to serve.
I am encouraged by the Houston Bar Association’s emphasis on jury duty this year. This initiative, the choice of HBA President Randy Sorrels, will take the message to the classroom, where the ideas of citizenship are best taught.
On January 1, 2006, the pay for the first day of service still will be $6, but the pay will increase to $40 for the second and subsequent days of service. Will raising the pay help? The poor worker who really needs $50 a day still will be short. The doctor or attorney or small business owner who makes much, much more every day still will be short. The retiree who is not excited by $6 a day might respond to $40, which will cover several meals.
That unintended consequence would give us more of the persons who – at their parents’ knee or in some non-air conditioned school – were taught about rights, duties and sacrifices.
We’re close to the limit on making jury service comfortable and convenient. What we now have to do is hammer on the seemingly unfashionable theme: when duty calls . . . good citizens answer.

Charles Bacarisse became the District Clerk of Harris County on January 1, 1995.

< BACK TO TOP >