Welcome to the 21st Century: Alaska is Sending Jury Summons via Email

It’s 2020, and (hopefully) has been long enough now that we are past the point where we have to cross out 2019 while writing dates. As a solidly millennial-aged individual who remembers a time when it took an entire night to download a song from Limewire or Napster—according to my friends, of course I never did such a thing—I’ll be the first to admit that I love fiber internet and the fact that I can access so much of my life from my phone, which is comically smaller than the TI-86 graphing calculator I used in high school. 

The internet has made so much of life easier, including the mundane tasks that keep us active members of society. Many states are alleviating DMV wait times by allowing driver’s license renewals to be performed online; most jurisdictions allow you to pay minor traffic and parking tickets online; and we can even file and pay our taxes online (don’t worry, you have two more months to do that). Even most courts across the country have implemented electronic filing of court documents, and keep their court records online. However, despite the rest of the system catching up with the 21^st Century jury summons are hilariously still quite archaic in most jurisdictions. 

Maybe the courts are in on the joke? Are they still sending postcards for jury summons so that the jokes about jury service can keep rolling in? As amusing as that would be, it is sadly likely not the case. One of the most common ways for a court to get in touch with protentional jurors is for them to mail postcards. Courts, as well as many commentators, have noted that this is not really the most efficient or even cost-effective way of reaching out to jurors to inform them they are being summoned. However, many states use either voter registration records and/or driver’s license records in order to fill their potential jury pool. Even if courts wanted to use other forms of contact—such as email— it would be difficult since they rely on other governmental entities to collect contact information. Most states don’t even ask for, much less require, individuals to provide an email address as part of their contact information. 

If states rarely collect email addresses as part of contact information, then how is it that the most sparsely populated state has beaten nearly all the others to the punch? As with most things in life, it comes down to money. Citizens are more likely to freely provide more information, and keep that information up-to-date, when there is money involved. [As an aside, many states would likely see a large decrease in the amount of undeliverable jury summons if they used contact information they collect as part of their state income tax returns.] And in essence, this is what Alaska is doing. One benefit of living in Alaska—apart from its natural beauty and plethora of outdoor activities for those interested—is the Alaska Permanent Fund. The fund is financed by royalties the state earns from its mineral rights, and the dividends received are paid out to eligible Alaskans. As part of the approval process, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division collects email addresses, and the state courts are using those email addresses to reach out to potential jurors. The Alaska state courts also implemented other online services to assist jurors that allow them to check their jury status online, fill out their questionnaires, and also find out other background information regarding jury service. But, the state does recognize that some email inboxes are (shockingly) full so if the email summons is not responded to they will send a follow-up via post. 

Not only is Alaska aiming to save money by sending electronic jury summons, it is hoping to increase turnout as well. Last year over 24,000 Alaskans appeared for service as either a grand juror or a trial juror, nearly half that amount was in the largest city, Anchorage. This sounds like a large number for state with a small population, but actually nearly 120,000 jury summons are sent annually. Since starting to send summons via email in November 2019 the state has already saved an estimated $5000 on postage. Another advantage to emailing jury summons for the state is that it will likely make the process more reliable as well. The parts of the state that are most rural, and difficult to get to by vehicle, will now be easier to be summoned—as long as there is internet connection (even if it's dial-up) an email can be delivered reliably. Overall, it seems like this will be a better process for both the state and potential jurors, so hopefully it works out well and other states shortly follow suit.