2 Helps You<\/a> for answers.<\/p>\n\u201cTurning up for a jury summons is a difficult process for all of us,\u201d Highfield said. \u201cGood citizens like me, we do turn out, we make the effort, but when it starts coming down to every one year or two years, I think that\u2019s quite unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Highfield, who became a U.S. citizen in 2001 after emigrating from England, says he\u2019s been summoned seven times in the past 20 years \u2014 six times in Harris County and once for a local magistrate\u2019s court.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally the jury summons come every three years, and I can tolerate that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I last was summoned in December 2024, and then a couple of weeks ago, I got another one for this October. Is that now annual summons we have to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Why some people keep getting called<\/p>\n
Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess says Highfield\u2019s case is unusual but not impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked up his case in particular, and he was the first person I\u2019ve ever looked up who actually did show up and serve six times in the course of a 20-year period,\u201d Burgess said. \u201cEvery time was in a different wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cwheel\u201d is known as the jury wheel, a massive database that includes every Harris County resident over 18 who has either a driver\u2019s license, state ID, or voter registration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have what is known as our jury wheel,\u201d Burgess explained. \u201cWe reconstitute it every two years to remove people who\u2019ve moved away, aged out, or become ineligible, and add people who\u2019ve moved in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last reconstitution happened in December 2024, when about 2.7 million residents were loaded into the system. Each name is randomly assigned a number, and those at the top of the list get summoned first.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all totally random and done by the computer,\u201d Burgess said. \u201cIf you end up near the top, you could get called again after the next reconstitution. If you\u2019re near the bottom, you might never get called.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next reset of the jury wheel isn\u2019t expected until April 2027.<\/p>\n
No way to change the system<\/p>\n
When asked if there\u2019s a way to prevent repeat summons or ensure those who\u2019ve never been called are added, Burgess said there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, there is not,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s due to randomization and keeping that process clean.\u201d<\/p>\n
To prove how random it really is, Burgess shared her own experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I was elected, I was sitting at home opening my mail and I opened up a letter \u2014 it was a summons to myself from myself,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is totally random.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jury service in Harris County<\/p>\n
According to Burgess, about 1,200 Harris County residents are summoned on a typical day, with Mondays and Fridays being the busiest.<\/p>\n
Her office has made several changes to make the process more convenient:<\/p>\n
Free parking for jurors in downtown Houston<\/p>\n
Online pre-registration to claim exemptions, disqualifications, or reschedule service<\/p>\n
Increased pay, from $6 to $30 for the first day and from $40 to $58 for subsequent days<\/p>\n
Immediate debit card payment upon completion of service<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important that we have diverse juries,\u201d Burgess said. \u201cOur county is one of the most diverse in the nation, and our juries need to reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
What to do if you think you\u2019ve received a scam summons<\/p>\n
Burgess warns that jury duty scams remain common \u2014 including fake calls or texts demanding payment or threatening arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will never contact you and say you\u2019re going to be arrested for failure to appear for jury service,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will never demand money or issue a fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone unsure about a summons should contact the Harris County District Clerk\u2019s Office directly to verify its legitimacy.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the bottom line<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve never been called, don\u2019t take it personally. If you\u2019ve been called again \u2014 and again \u2014 blame the wheel, not the clerk.<\/p>\n
For a list of jury duty exemptions and additional information about the process, click here.<\/a><\/p>\nCopyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRIS COUNTY, Texas \u2013 When Klein resident Kevin Highfield checks his mail, he\u2019s learned to expect one particular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[405,56,58,57,7318,66,223,287,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-34240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-harris-county","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-headlines","11":"tag-houston-news","12":"tag-jury-duty","13":"tag-local","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}