# Jury Summons--How do they know that you received it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482 "2009-03-15T01:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/21 "2009-03-16T20:05:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Granted, I’m in the Chicago mail system, which is not the greatest, but a minimum of once a month I get mail that’s clearly addressed (as in, typed or printed by computer) to either neighbors or people a street or two over. Sometimes, I get five or six letters at a time. Being a responsible adult (at least when it comes to mail), I hand deliver it to my neighbors (which has included checks, among other things). It’s not unreasonable to assume that a good chunk (1-2%) of jury summons get lost, in my opinion. Strangely, I also get mail in my apartment’s mailbox that is either for another neighbor in my apartment (right address, wrong apartment number), or someone at a wrong address (but same apartment number). The part that gets me is that this happens at (what is, to me) an alarming rate. Probably 5-8 per month. I always get the mail to the correct person. But, I rarely get mail given to me that might have been misdelivered to another person. If my mail is misdelivered to other people as often as other people’s are misdelivered to me, I would assume I would get 5-8 pieces of mail per month handed to me that arrived at the wrong address. I get maybe 1 per year that way. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/22 "2009-03-17T17:14:44Z")
Whoops ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/23 "2009-03-17T17:43:28Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Question: How does the IRS (I believe that is your tax office bureau?) mail its notices - with normal mail or specially? I assume normal mail, because special mail (delivery with signature) would be quite expensive.. The IRS uses regular mail,until they get to legal Notices, such as a 90-day letter, aka a SNAD aka a Statutory Notice of Deficiency. There, it must go certified to the Last Known Addree. There’s a considerable body of law on that, but (ianal), timely mialing by Certified Mail is considered proof, even if not signed for. Sometimes the iRS uses a “Certificate of Mailing” which has the USPS sign off that that that mail was indeed rcvd at the Post Office. [http://www.irs.gov/irm/part1/ch16s02.html](http://www.irs.gov/irm/part1/ch16s02.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/24 "2009-03-17T17:45:33Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > Meanwhile, a few years go by, the IRS catches the mistake, and then runs my ass through the ringer over the missing tax plus penalties based on the number of years that has passed between when the tax was owed and when they caught the mistake. It was a legitimate mistake on my part because I should have known the 1099 was coming, but this investment takes all dividends and reinvests them in the same fund, so I never actually ‘see’ any of the money per se. So, thanks to the lost envelope, I paid hundreds of dollars in penalties courtesy of the USPS. . Unless your tax deficiency came to over $5000 on this item, you should not have had to pay any penalties. Yes, the auditor may have _asserted_ them, but you should have appealed that. But you would have to pay interest. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/25 "2009-03-17T19:44:58Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > You’re assuming that the less than 2% of mail that is mis-delivered or lost is random – it isn’t. For example, handwritten addresses are much more likely to be hit, because of problems reading the handwriting. While junk mail is machine printed, often with the delivery barcode too, and the addresses are properly formatted according to PO standards, and verified as valid deliverable addresses before being mailed. So they are much more likely to be delivered correctly. > > Presumably, the jury notices are not handwritten, but computer-printed letters. And the addresses, coming from voter registration rolls or motor vehicle lists, were known to be good addresses within a recent time frame. So the chance that this mail would not be delivered is much lower. There are many other ways of mail being misdelivered. Sometimes letters stick to other ones, and get put into the wrong slot. We often get letters with the same number but a different street. We just had a Netflix disk misdelivered - someone eventually put it on our doorstep. We put the stuff back into the mail to be correctly delivered, but some people may dump it, and if the guy down the street who hates you gets your mail, you are out of luck. Mailing houses often conduct experiments where they mail a large number of pieces of mail to various locations, and collect information on how many go missing. I was on an IEEE committee 20 years ago that did this, and the loss rate was \> 2% (though this was second class mail.) I worked as a carrier, and can testify you don’t look at every piece of mail as you deliver it. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/26 "2009-03-18T18:55:15Z")
IANAL, but as I understand it, a judge is well within his rights to slap a contempt of court charge on any summoned juror who fails to appear. I’m sure the chances of this happening are not high unless the actual number of potential jurors who do show up is insufficient to make up the desired number of panels. In such cases, it seems reasonable to assume that there’s no way for the judge to prove that x juror did in fact receive his or or notice, but the embarrassment/inconvenience of being hauled off to court and having to contest the charges is certainly enough incentive to ensure that enough folks will respond to the summons. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/27 "2009-03-19T01:08:54Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > In such cases, it seems reasonable to assume that there’s no way for the judge to prove that x juror did in fact receive his or or notice, So assumed guilty until proven innocent? That doesn’t sound very American, and various cites in this thread do seem to show mail get mishandled. Why can’t/doesn’t the court use registered mail? Seems like a simple way to handle it, and it’d establish proof of receipt, without risking punishing an unlucky innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/28 "2009-03-19T01:35:11Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > So assumed guilty until proven innocent? That doesn’t sound very American, and various cites in this thread do seem to show mail get mishandled. > > Why can’t/doesn’t the court use registered mail? Seems like a simple way to handle it, and it’d establish proof of receipt, without risking punishing an unlucky innocent. Because it would cost a whole lot more, for no effective gain. The number of cases where the mail is mishandled is way less than the number of people who do get the notice, and just don’t show up. So sending it registered mail would not help in the majority of cases. And they don’t get punished right away, for a single notice that has gone astray. That only happens after they have ignored repeated notices from the court. It’s very unlikely that **all** of these notices would just happen to be in that tiny \>2% of mail that goes astray (and is not returned to sender). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/29 "2009-03-19T03:59:16Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And they don’t get punished right away, for a single notice that has gone astray. That only happens after they have ignored repeated notices from the court. It’s very unlikely that **all** of these notices would just happen to be in that tiny \>2% of mail that goes astray (and is not returned to sender). That’s true, but then there’s the evil roommate/hostile mailman/mail thieving vengeful neighbor scenario. Wanna get someone arrested? Steal/don’t deliver their jury notices. It kind of naively assumes people always honest and ethical, in some places nothing could be further from the truth. ---
**Author:** ![elvenflow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@elvenflow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elvenflow)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/30 "2015-02-25T12:44:33Z")
I just received a jury summons forwarded to me from North Carolina. I have lived in Oregon for the past five years. My Oregon address is correct with the DMV here and the Tax Office back in NC. The fire dept. in NC burned my house down for practice. I recently reported my concerns about packages being delivered to the empty lot (there was a lot of “spice” reported coming into the community, I did not want my former address to be a drop point, as someone had already mysteriously had a Direct TV dish delivered there while the house was being removed) and dealt with both the police department and the post office to make sure that no more mail or packages were delivered to that address. Yet I still get a summons for Jury duty in NC? How do you change you address with the court system when you move? I have faxed in the required proof of change of address, and will also seen it certified return receipt to establish a paper trail since I expect this will not be the last I hear of it. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/31 "2015-02-25T15:28:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Mailing houses often conduct experiments where they mail a large number of pieces of mail to various locations, and collect information on how many go missing. I was on an IEEE committee 20 years ago that did this, and the loss rate was \> 2% (though this was second class mail.) That’s interesting! How did you evaluate that a piece went missing? Was it some kind of “respond back if you got this”? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/32 "2015-02-25T15:46:55Z")
Zombies don’t normally get called for jury duty. **elvenflow** you have responded to a 6 year old thread. I would suggest you start a new thread to get your question answered. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/33 "2015-02-25T15:56:40Z")
> [@elvenflow](#): > > How do you change you address with the court system when you move? You call the clerk of courts or whoever mails out jury summons in NC and tell them you don’t live in the state anymore. You might want to ensure that you are no longer registered to vote there too. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/34 "2015-02-25T17:04:06Z")
I spent a semester abroad when I was in college and during that time I received numerous jury notices with increasing levels of urgency at the apartment near my home campus that I rented with some other students. I called the court when I returned to the US and they told me not to worry about it, although this was a college town so they probably factor these things in. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/35 "2015-02-25T17:42:59Z")
Even sending certified mail is not a guarantee that the recipient will get it. Some years ago I was on the Board of Trustees for a home owners association, serving as treasurer. The State Department of Natural Resources sent me a certified mail containing a notice that we owed them some money for a permit. Even though I had lived at the same address for some forty years, the Post Office returned the mail (with our correct address on it) to the DNR labeled “Undeliverable”. I only found out about this sometime later when I got a regular letter from the DNR asking basically WTF? When I found out what had happened I went up to our local P.O. and had some harsh words with them, which went off them like water off a duck’s back. I think the basic problem was that our mail route is considered a “training” route, so we get all the new carriers. That, along with the fact that English is definitely not the first language for a lot of our carriers, and mail delivery can get a little shaky on occasion. Except for junk mail, of course. The P.O. never misses on these. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/36 "2015-02-25T20:21:44Z")
It’s weird to see an OP by **jtgain** that says “IANAL” ! But it is a nice zombie warning. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/37 "2015-02-25T22:44:00Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > That’s interesting! How did you evaluate that a piece went missing? Was it some kind of “respond back if you got this”? Well, if it takes five years to arrive… 😃 I’m not sure of the details. I just heard the results. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/38 "2015-02-25T22:48:29Z")
I’ve been to jury rooms quite a few times since this thread started. The people working the desk in the jury room try to call the people who did not respond to the roll call (not very many in my experience.) I don’t know how long they persist, but if they get you and you say you missed the mail, get rescheduled, and show up, nothing is going to happy. In my county at least you get one free postponement. Our jury summonses are done from the drivers license and voting list. Some number of people on these lists have moved and/or are dead, so I doubt they expect 100% compliance. ---
**Author:** ![Jjjjstun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jjjjstun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jjjjstun)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/39 "2016-10-24T15:10:40Z")
Well we dont live in America! We live in the US ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jury-summons-how-do-they-know-that-you-received-it/489482/40 "2016-10-24T15:21:19Z")
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