going downtown: worst case sceneriothis must be what it's like to live in Hell.GREELEY – They roamed the streets of Greeley Wednesday morning with stacks of paper and an eye out for people they could summon to emergency jury duty.
Weld County and District Court staff handed subpoenas to more than 50 unsuspecting people, telling them they had to report for jury duty Wednesday morning because many of those summoned by mail did not show.
Some of the people were just walking around town. Rosalee Rice was at the Post Office.
"It's been one heck of a morning," says Rice, who had to call her boss at Colorado Pain and Rehabilitation with the news.
Her initial ire rose when she found out the on-the-spot court order was needed because less than 40 of the 200 people summoned to court by mail turned out.
"As a resident, if you are summoned to go, you should go because it really interrupts everyone else's lives," she said.
Court administrators agree, adding there were trials that were ready to start, but were still in need of a jury.
They say this is the third time in the last two months they've had to take such extreme action. Before December, they believe it had not happened in 15 years.
Judges and administrators will be meeting to discuss what to do with all those no-shows
