Monday, nearly 100 people showed up for jury duty at the Taylor County courthouse - and had to be turned around and sent home. As often happens in the legal system, all three jury trials scheduled to begin Monday morning were canceled late last week, after jury notices had already been mailed out.
Court officials are glad, of course, when people obey a summons to appear for jury duty.
In fact, it's a criminal offense not to. People should be complimented, not scolded, for showing up to do the right thing. Call ahead to see if the court still needs you on Monday morning. A jury information line is set up specifically for prospective jurors to call over the weekend to see if scheduled trials are still on or have been dropped. If the trial is off, there's no penalty for staying home.