Jury duty is our civic duty, and failing to show up could result in a fine or even jail time.
The I-Team has uncovered thousands of people in Milwaukee County do not appear for jury duty and never face consequences.
“Jury trials are the cornerstone of our system,” Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Watts said.
Statistics obtained by the I-Team reveals not everyone takes jury duty seriously.
In 2012, 7,783 jurors never showed up in. In 2013, that number climbed to 13,997.
Between 2012 and 2014, more than 30,000 people summoned for jury duty failed to make an appearance.
“That’s a problem because we need people to serve,” Watts said.
Watts is the only judge to fine a juror for walking away from her civic duty back in 2012.
“During a trial and during deliberations, the juror decided to leave town,” Watts said.
Watts refers to Ivana Samardzic as the “runaway juror” after she stopped showing up for court in the middle of a shooting trial.
Instead, Samardzic got on a plane and went to Cancun.
Watts ordered her back to court immediately, this time as a defendant.
“It was important for people to know that there are consequences for bad behavior,” Watts said.
Samardzic was ordered to pay a $300 fine and admitted what she did was wrong, but never served a day in jail.
“We have enough people in our jails than to have jurors who fail to appear go to jail,” Circuit Court Clerk John Barrett said.
Barrett says if someone misses jury duty, they’ll mail out another letter allowing the person to reschedule.
He calls it a “positive approach” in getting voluntary compliance from potential jurors.
The I-Team’s Eric Ross asked, “Is that approach working? One year (2013), you had 15-percent of jurors not show up. Is that acceptable?”
“We always want jurors to show up,” Barrett said. “The important thing for us to remember is that we have sufficient numbers and enough people to cover all the trials.”
We discovered a handful of trials have been delayed in recent years, but Barrett says that only happens when too many people on a jury panel are kicked off and the additional pool of jurors have been sent home early for the day.
Watts and Barrett admit jurors are expected to perform a lot of work for little pay.
On February 1, Barrett and Chief Judge Maxine White submitted a proposal asking the County Board to increase jury duty pay to $25 a day from $19.
Current rates in Milwaukee County:
Morning jury duty: $8
Afternoon jury duty: $8
Parking/transportation reimbursement: $3
Proposed rates:
Morning jury duty: $8
Afternoon jury duty: $8
Parking/transportation reimbursement: $9
According to Barrett, Milwaukee County is in the bottom 10-percent among Wisconsin Counties for juror pay and transportation reimbursements.
In Waukesha County, jurors get $30 a day and $7 in travel expenses.
Ozaukee County pays $50 a day plus mileage.
Below are jury statistics obtained from the Milwaukee County Courthouse from 2012-2014. Data from 2015 will be available later this year.
2012:
Summons sent: 90,134
Canceled or called off: 16,968
Total potential available: 73,166
Undelivered summonses: 8,743 (9.7%)
“No response”: 7,783 (8.63%)
2013:
Summons sent: 91,451
Canceled or called off: 18,677
Total potential available: 72,774
Undelivered summonses: 7,724 (8.45%)
“No response”: 13,997 (15.31%)
2014:
Summons sent: 89,164
Canceled or called off: 22,421
Total potential available: 66,743
Undelivered summonses: 7,655 (8.59%)
“No response”: 10,385 (11.65%)
If you are unable to appear in court for jury duty, Barrett encourages you to call the Milwaukee County Courthouse. A court clerk will be able to further assist you.
Deliberately ignoring a jury summons could result in a fine and failing to appear in court if summoned could result in jail time. A judge has the authority to exercise these options at their discretion.
