County still facing jury issues, sheriff publishes list of those who haven’t responded to notices

Earlier this month, county officials discussed problems getting the public to respond to their jury questionnaires and summons.

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said at the time that his office would start posting the list of names of those who don’t respond.

State law requires citizens to respond to jury notices from the clerk of courts office. If a person doesn’t respond, the law requires the clerk to notify the sheriff, who is then legally required to contact those people.

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Slaughter, County Attorney Josh Racki and Clerk of Court Tina Henry said earlier this month that Henry’s office had instituted a change in the jury notice process, based on advice from a retired Missoula clerk, that seemed to have caused a significant uptick in the number of people not responding to jury notices.

The issue was raised in two criminal cases in August, prompting District Court Judge Elizabeth Best to order a stop on all jury trials in district court in Cascade County through Sept. 25.

Best also ordered that Henry’s office immediately revert to the previous jury notice process and that the sheriff’s office had to make reasonable attempts to contact those who don’t respond. The court defined reasonable as three to four attempts.

Henry, who was appointed as a Democrat to the office in late 2019 to take the seat in January 2020 when her predecessor retired . She ran as a Democrat in 2020 and announced on Sept. 26 that she was seeking reelection but running as a Republican in 2024.

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Under state law, a judge can hold someone in contempt for not responding to jury notices.

In some cases, those whose names are pulled through the state system for jury duty have moved out of the county and the system hasn’t caught up.

The issue has not fully improved though and all jury trials in district court have been bumped until Oct. 16, Racki told The Electric.

He said that three or four trials that were expected to proceed had been delayed due to the jury issues. He said the total number could be higher but some of those cases weren’t likely to go to trial.

Delays in seating juries slows the legal process and keeps defendants sitting in jail longer, Racki and Slaughter said earlier this month.

Slaughter said that deputies would call those who hadn’t responded and on Sept. 25 posted a list of those who hadn’t yet responded.

Anyone who hasn’t yet responded can send their form in, pick up a new one in person at the clerk’s office in the courthouse at 415 2nd Ave. N. or the sheriff’s office at 3800 Ulm North Frontage Road, or download a copy of the county website.

Questionnaires are due to the clerk’s office by Oct. 12.

Slaughter’s list of those who have not responded is below: