Prospective jurors throughout the Philadelphia court system are now able to fill out mandatory juror questionnaires online, instead of needing to complete them on paper and mail them in, officials said Monday.
The Philadelphia Courts announced that, starting this week, prospective jurors will begin receiving postcards that notify them that they have been selected for jury duty and include a QR code to allow them to connect to a mandatory online questionnaire.
In a statement, Patrick Martin, Jury Commissioner for the Philadelphia Courts, said the online effort is intended to make this process easier for prospective jurors.
“The QR code feature will make it easier and more convenient for prospective jurors to fill out the mandatory Juror Questionnaire. This will eliminate the need for jurors to fill out a multi-page paper questionnaire and return it via the U.S. Postal Service,” Martin said in a statement.
Officials said prospective jurors will need only to scan the QR code with a mobile phone camera to access the mandatory juror questionnaire.
“We are continuing to embrace technology to increase efficiency, improve convenience, and help save taxpayer dollars,” Martin said.
Also, officials said, by moving this process online, the court system expected to save about $165,000 a year in paper and postage costs as, on average, about 400,000 people a year are called for jury duty.
The questionnaire, officials said, must be completed before the date that the prospective juror is scheduled to be in court.
And, it must be completed within five days of the prospective juror receiving the postcard, officials said.
Officials said that if a prospective juror has a problem after completing the questionnaire or if they are unable to serve on their scheduled court date, they should call 215-683-7170.
Also, those who would like to submit a hardship request can do so by emailing here.
However, officials noted that not everyone summoned for jury duty will be required to appear for possible selection.
To determine whether you are still needed for service, jurors are instructed to check their email and/or text messages after 5 p.m. the day before their scheduled date or scan the jury services questionnaire QR code.
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