The San Diego Superior Court will soon expand postcard mailings for jury summons throughout the county. Jurors summoned to the North County Courthouse can look to receive the postcard summons rather than paper mailings beginning later this week with reporting dates for the week of September 15 and beyond.

The postcards were launched in the Central Courthouse with the first summoned jurors responding the week of July 24. Postcard summonses will land in East and South County homes beginning in September with first reporting dates of October 13 for jurors summoned to the East County Courthouse and October 30 for jurors summoned to the South County Courthouse.

“The success of our test run of the postcards at the Central Courthouse has thoroughly surpassed expectations and we are excited to expand the use of the postcards to the other courthouses,” said Presiding Judge Michael T. Smyth. “We are getting jurors checked in faster and sending jury panels to courtrooms between an hour to an hour and a half sooner. Less time spent waiting is a huge improvement to the juror experience.”

Scanning the QR code with a smartphone camera or using a web browser to visit the link printed on the postcard (sdcourt.ca.gov/service) will take summoned jurors to an enhanced juror portal where jurors can fill out an online juror questionnaire, request a postponement or transfer to another more convenient location, or request excusal. Jury services staff remain available to assist summoned jurors over the phone Monday – Thursday from 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Of jurors who have responded to the Central Courthouse over the past two weeks that the postcards have been in use, nearly 90% have gone online to provide their phone number or complete their juror questionnaire before arriving at the courthouse. This allows staff to immediately record attendance by scanning the juror barcode upon arrival and spend significantly less time performing manual data entry and reconciliation. The postcards are also projected to be more cost effective and produce less waste in the mailings.

The North, East and South County Courthouses all use telephone standby, instructing jurors to call in the night before they are summoned to report for duty to determine if they are needed and continue calling for five days. The Central Courthouse has daily reporting Monday through Thursday and telephone standby beginning on Fridays.

For more information on jury service at the San Diego Superior Court, please visit sdcourt.ca.gov/Jury.