Juror No-Shows Soar; Judge Warns of Consequences

The fear of reprisals for ignoring jury summons, instilled by a 2024 crackdown on no-show jurors, has apparently worn off, with the 90th Judicial District’s Judge Phillip Gregory reporting that only a fraction of people summoned for grand jury duty showed up for qualification on Jan. 12.

According to Judge Gregory, the Young County District Clerk’s office mailed 125 grand jury summonses ahead of the first grand jury session of 2026. Only 49 people appeared.

“That was embarrassingly low,” Judge Gregory said in an interview.

In January of 2024, County Judge Win Graham made good on a promise to crack down on no-show jurors by holding County residents who failed to appear for jury duty without a legitimate excuse in contempt of court and fining them. The penalty under Texas law for failing to appear for jury duty is a fine of between $100 and $1,000.

Judge Gregory said he hopes to avoid taking enforcement steps but stressed that jury summonses are court orders, not requests. Ignoring them can carry legal consequences.

“If someone doesn’t appear, they can be held in contempt of court,” Judge Gregory said. “That is absolutely the last thing I want to do, but the summons clearly spells out the penalties.”

In extreme cases, Judge Gregory said Texas law allows a judge to direct the sheriff to bring in citizens to fill a grand jury panel if too few people report.

“I can ask the sheriff to go out and bring me 12 people he finds and seat them as a grand jury,” Judge Gregory said. “I would really prefer not to do that.”

Judge Gregory emphasized that jury service— both grand jury and trial jury—is a core constitutional duty.

Young County seats two grand juries each year – one serving from January through June and another from July through December. Despite the six-month term, grand jurors typically meet only three or four times during that period.

“It’s not an all-day affair,” Judge Gregory said. The role of a grand jury is limited to determining whether probable cause exists for criminal charges—not deciding guilt or innocence. A supermajority of nine out of 12 jurors must vote to issue an indictment, known as a “true bill,” before a case moves forward.

Petit juries—those selected for trials—also tend to require less time than many residents fear.

On jury selection days, Judge Gregory said, prospective jurors are usually finished by mid-afternoon. Criminal trials in Young County generally last two to three days. Civil trials can take up to two weeks, but the judge said they are rare and most resolve before trial.