December 8, 2024
Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker says, people skipping out on jury duty, used to be an occasional, minor issue in county court. However, the D.A. says, that’s all changed since Covid. Twice recently, the district attorney tells WLEA News, large numbers of potential jurors have failed to show for jury duty.
According to Brooks Baker, since March of 2020, a larger number of people who have gotten a summons for jury duty, have been pulling no-shows. And the D.A. says, in that recent county court case, over half of those who were given jury summons did not come in. Baker also says, it’s not like the old days. “Unlike the old days,” Baker said, “when we just presumed that everyone was being a good citizen and there must have been a valid reason that someone missed out on responding to jury duty, the judges today, are going to make people show up. If you don’t show, you might get a knock on the door at home, or worse still at your workplace, from a deputy telling you to fulfill your civic duty, saying, “Let’s go, get in the back of the sheriff’s dept vehicle and go to the Steuben County Courthouse, you have a jury summons,” Baker said.
