LA GRANDE — Jury summons in Union and Wallowa circuit courts will look a little different moving forward.

The courts are now mailing out postcards to prospective jurors with instructions for accessing online information and resources, according to Michelle Leonard, trial court administrator for Union and Wallowa counties. The postcards are part of a new statewide system that aims to streamline jury service response and make communication easier.

“We are excited to roll out the postcard method of summoning jurors. Union and Wallowa counties have begun mailing out the new juror summons. Some of our citizens may have already received one of the new postcards,” Leonard said.

The courts mail out anywhere between 300 and 500 summons in order to have a sufficient number of jurors for a single jury term, according to Leonard. These postcards are replacing the paper brochures the courts previously mailed out in envelopes.

“I am looking forward to utilizing technology to eliminate the high cost of mailing, as well as reduce a great deal of paper,” Leonard said.

The postcards include the essential information jurors need to respond for service and communicate with the court. They direct potential jurors to a new online portal called Juror eResponse, which serves as a central location to complete everything necessary before the start of jury service.

On the portal, potential jurors can fill out the juror forms, opt in for text or email notifications and reporting instructions, obtain an attendance slip for their service and request deferral or excusals.

This new system provides court staff with more flexibility when communicating with jurors, Leonard said. For example, she said, if a group has been called for jury duty and the status of a trial changes, staff can now quickly inform the prospective jurors by sending out a real-time text message.

“We are not trying to eliminate the human factor, only to improve our ability to communicate with our jurors. Court staff are here to help anyone who needs assistance or who have questions,” Leonard said.

Any prospective jurors who do not have access to the internet should contact their local circuit court for additional options to complete the necessary questionnaire prior to the start of their jury service.

In Union County, those without internet access can call the courthouse at 541-962-9500 and then select option 1 from the menu. In Wallowa County, those without internet access can call 541-426-4991.

For more information about jury summons in Union County go to: https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/union/jury/Pages/default.aspx. For Wallowa County go to: https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/wallowa/jury/Pages/juror-resources.aspx.

The Oregon Courts created an online video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on how to reply to a jury summons electronically through the eReponse portal. That video can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7Kxnc4CBc.

Circuit courts will never contact you by phone, email or other means to ask for personal or financial information, demand money for failure to respond to jury service, or threaten you with arrest. Those are indications of a scam.

If you have any questions about contacts that claim to be from the court, look up the contact information for your local circuit court at www.courts.oregon.gov/courts and give them a call to report the contact.