HAYS COUNTY, Texas — Thousands of jury summonses were hand-delivered by Hays County constables after a county vendor made an error. The mistake impacted over 6,000 jury notices, which were printed and distributed to the constables for delivery to prospective jurors for an upcoming trial setting on January 8.
According to county officials, the constables took on the task of personally delivering the summonses to multiple households to rectify the situation. Hays County District Clerk Anderson Sr. expressed his regret, stating, “It’s an unfortunate situation due to the important nature of the cases that are currently on the dockets. As a result, the constables hand-delivered the documents to multiple residences.”
While the vendor responsible for the error has corrected the mistake, officials assure ongoing efforts to prevent such incidents from occurring again. Anderson Sr. expressed his gratitude to the citizens of Hays County for their patience and service in this essential judicial process. However, if the issue is not resolved by the end of the week, the district clerk’s office will explore alternative methods for serving jury summonses.
Prospective jurors who have received a notice on their door or in their mailbox should be aware that it is an official summons from the District Clerk. Moving forward, summonses for the remainder of January and early February have been sent to prospective jurors.
In light of the situation, Hays County officials and constables exerted considerable effort to ensure that the error did not disrupt the judicial process. Their prompt action in hand-delivering the summonses demonstrates their commitment to upholding the integrity of the jury system.
In conclusion, Hays County constables personally delivered over 6,000 jury summonses to correct an error caused by a county vendor. The district clerk’s office expresses gratitude to the community for their patience and emphasizes the official nature of the summonses received. Efforts are underway to prevent such errors in the future, and jury proceedings continue uninterrupted with summonses for trials in January and early February already distributed.