Livingston County Cracks Down On No-Show Jurors

HOWELL, Mich. (WWJ/AP) -- Livingston County plans to impose court hearings, fines and possible jail time for residents who try to skip out on jury duty.

The Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports that the crackdown is spurred by a recent increase in the number of no-show jurors. Local statistics indicate that about one-third of the prospective jury pool have failed to show up to court in recent months.

Peggy Toms, with the 44th Circuit Court, told WWJ Newsradio 950 that judges may decide to continue this practice for those who do not respond to jury duty.

"A lot of it can just be miscommunication, I'm sure," Toms said. "Most of the people we've worked out things with. A few of them, there's been $50 fines and then they're put on another term to come back."

The court in March sent notice to 18 residents who failed to show for just duty at least twice in the past three months. Nine of them pleaded guilty, eight requested a formal hearing in May and one failed to show as ordered.

"Some of them plead guilty and just have an explanation that, for whatever reason, they did not appear," Toms said.

One of the people who requested a formal hearing missed jury duty six times between April 2014 and January.

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