Ignoring a jury summons can be an expensive mistake.

Fifteen Santa Barbara County residents who allegedly had failed to answer two jury summonses and a warning letter were faced with that lesson Thursday when they appeared in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria to be formally charged by Judge Arthur Garcia with contempt of court.

Most of the fifteen pleaded guilty to the charge and were fined $350, though others had the charges dismissed and some will have hearings at a later date.

The Superior Court began the program of issuing “orders to show cause” to potential jurors in the county with its first calendar in mid-June in Santa Barbara, and got it underway in Santa Maria Thursday, said the trial courts’ executive officer, Gary Blair.

The only people who have received the orders are those who allegedly have not replied to any of the three notices.

Now, arraignments for the allegedly nonresponsive members of the jury pool are expected to be on the court calendar twice a month in both cities.

“There’s nothing magical about the timing of it,” Blair said.

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The court had been planning the calendars for many months, Blair said, but he couldn’t recall the Superior Court in the county running the program before. Previously, orders to show cause would be issued to juror candidates on a case-by-case basis.

“It shows the rest of the good, law-abiding, civic-minded citizens that you can’t just ignore your jury summons and get away with it,” he added.

Blair said that a year ago, he moved a court staff member to jury administration in Santa Barbara in preparation for the start of the program. The plan requires extra resources from both the court and law enforcement, he said, because law enforcement officers deliver the orders to show cause.

“But we think that the payout for it is going to outweigh the cost,” Blair said, though he

didn’t have a specific cost of the program. The money from the fines goes to the state, which operates the Superior Courts, Blair said.

One of the benefits, he noted, is that fewer jury summonses will have to be sent out if the program makes potential jurors more responsive.

At the beginning of the arraignment hearings Thursday in Santa Maria, Garcia stressed the importance of jury service and of replying to a jury summons.

“Now, I assume it’s inconvenient for you to be here today,” he said, and added that appearing at the courthouse was also inconvenient for those who show up for jury service.

Citizens of some other countries don’t have the privilege of the jury system if they are in need of justice, Garcia said. In some places, the accused must prove themselves innocent, he added.

“You have to pay the bill for having the justice system that we have,” Garcia said, because the jury system would cease to function if juror candidates

didn’t show up.

The judge listened to the reasons of those charged for why they didn’t respond to their summonses, issued a lesser fine to a few and discharged the contempt charge for at least two of the fifteen.

At least two in the group ultimately pleaded not guilty to contempt of court and were scheduled to come back to court for a hearing on a later date.

The maximum fine in the event of a guilty finding on the contempt charge is $1,000, Garcia told those gathered in court. He said they would not face jail time.

Those pleading guilty Thursday would be fined $350 at most, Garcia said.

All but those exempted from jury duty were still ordered to report for jury duty on future dates.

One man was exempted because he had a felony conviction, and a woman was exempted due to a medical condition for which she had a doctor’s note.

Many of those who came before the judge said they did not receive the mailings.

Janine Perez said during her turn before Garcia that she

hadn’t realized the seriousness of replying to a jury summons. She pleaded guilty and was fined $350.

Outside court, Perez said that she thought the judge had been fair, although she was “kind of shocked” to get the order to show cause.

Perez said she will “definitely” be more careful about responding to a jury summons in the future.

Blair said there were about 40 orders to show cause for the Santa Maria calendar Thursday, but the 15 people who appeared were all who could be found and served with the order.

The vast majority of people are showing up and doing their civic duty, Blair said, and only a small percentage of those served with jury summonses don’t respond after the three attempts.

He also noted that the court could legally take action against someone after a failure to respond to the first jury summons. “The message really is, ‘Contact the jury office if you have a problem.’ Just don’t ignore it,” he said.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@lompocrecord.com.

July 18, 2008