Philadelphia’s Juror Scofflaw Court is no more

Officials say Philadelphia’s off-and-on Juror Scofflaw Court will no longer be used because it’s too costly to operate and there aren’t enough resources for it to continue.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the program was launched in 2000 to curtail the number of city residents who ignore their summons to jury duty and was abandoned for more than a decade before making a short-lived comeback in 2014.

Jury Commissioner Daniel Rendine says the program “didn’t bode well for the long run.” The Philadelphia court system is developing an alternative solution with the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Offenders who appeared before the court might have found themselves paying fines up to $500 or even serving jail time.

Only about 14 percent of residents responded to their jury duty summons last year.