If you don’t show up for jury duty, you may end up in court anyway — this time as a criminal defendant.
Most residents of Plymouth County, including Plymouth and the rest of Massachusetts, answer the call to serve, state officials say. But a small number don’t. They toss their jury duty notice in the trash or forget to respond.
They do so at their peril.
Delinquent jurors face the possibility of a criminal conviction and a fine of up to $2,000.
Two weeks ago, Plymouth, Wareham, and Hingham district court clerks started issuing criminal complaints to residents who ignored jury duty summonses.
In October and November, the three district courts issued more than 100 criminal complaints — 50 in Plymouth, 42 in Wareham, and 22 in Hingham, according to court records.
(Any resident of Plymouth County, including Plymouth residents, can be called to serve in Plymouth, Brockton, Wareham or Hingham.)
The jury scofflaws are set to be arraigned in December and January.
Those who appear may be given another opportunity to clear up their delinquency — if they agree to perform jury duty, officials said or can explain why they should be excused. Those who do neither, could have a warrant issued for their immediate arrest.
They could then be tried and convicted for “non-performance of jury service.”
In the next few months, additional hearings are scheduled at courts throughout Plymouth County and more criminal complaints will likely be issued, officials said.
It’s not that easy to become a jury duty scofflaw.
Prospective jurors receive multiple notices — including a “failure to appear” notice and a delinquency notice — and are given multiple chances to fix the problem.
The Office of Jury Commissioner will seek criminal charges only if they fail to respond.
The district attorney would prosecute the cases, which may result in a fine of up to $2,000, assessment of court costs, community service, or forced jury service.
It wasn’t always this way.
Before 1996, there were few consequences for skipping out on jury duty.
But that year, when the jury delinquency rate in Suffolk County reached 25 percent, the Office of Jury Commissioner created the Delinquent Juror Prosecution Program — with the goal of increasing juror participation and diversity.
For the first time, it allowed the office to bring criminal charges against delinquent prospective jurors.
According to a court report, the impact was “immediate and dramatic.”
In 1996, before the plan was implemented, the statewide delinquency rate was 13.3 percent, the report said. In 1998 — two years later, it was cut nearly in half, to 7.2 percent. As of 2015, the rate dropped to 2.9 percent, the report said.
Officials did not have delinquency rates broken down by town or county.
Pamela J. Wood, jury commissioner of the Office of Jury Commissioner, said the plan wasn’t meant to punish people but to make sure Massachusetts juries reflect the communities they serve.
“People tend to think of jury service as an obligation, which it is, but it’s important to remember that it’s also a right of citizenship that people should be proud to claim,” she said.
“Other than military service, it’s the only time you’ll be called upon to serve your country by appearing and participating in an essential function of government.”
She said the United States is one of only a few countries that have a jury system.
“When citizens have the opportunity to serve in the US, they should do with pride,” Wood said.
But corralling wayward jurors may prove difficult.
Some Plymouth County residents who have had criminal complaints issued against them appear to have moved out of the county or state, according to public records.
Others have moved so many times, they say their mail is only now catching up to them.
Zachary, a Plymouth resident who asked that his last name not be used, acknowledges receiving multiple notices but said he’d moved so often he lost track of the paperwork.
He will go to his arraignment in December in Hingham District Court and try to make the charges go away.
“I plan to show up on the date and explain what happened — and hope for the best,” he said. “I had no idea I had even been summoned — until I found out I had an arraignment.”
He said he has been buying and flipping houses, living in one while he was renovating it and then moving on to the next.
“My address has changed so many times, it got lost in the mix,” he said. “By the time the mail got to an address, I would be living in another place.”
“I really don’t know what happened,” he said.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.