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Thousands of residents in Hays County received an unexpected letter earlier this month as the constable offices across Hays County had to hand deliver jury summonses.
The unique circumstance came up because of an “error by a Hays County vendor that has affected more than 6,000 jury notices throughout multiple county offices,” according to Hays County District Clerk Avrey Anderson Sr.
“It's an unfortunate situation due to the important nature of the cases that are currently on the dockets,” Anderson said. “As a result, the constables hand-delivered the documents to multiple residences.”
A press release from Hays County did not clarify what error occurred, but Anderson later stated that the issue has been corrected moving forward.
“Jury summonses for the remainder of January and early February have been sent to prospective jurors,” Anderson said. “[The vendor] has corrected its mistake from what we know at this point. We will continue to follow up to ensure that we are in a certain and organized position so that this does not occur again.”
Since the jury summons letters were hand delivered, many of them ended up being taped to the front door of prospective jurors with only a few days' notice of when to appear before the Jan. 8 trial setting. The letters, which did not appear to be on Hays County letterhead, caused some confusion. If you have received a notice on your door or mailbox, please be advised that it is an official summons from the Hays County District Clerk.
Anderson added his appreciation for the patience of Hays County residents as the county worked with the vendor to resolve the issue.
'We would like to extend our gratitude to the citizens of Hays County for their patience and their service in this essential judicial process,” said Anderson.
