Orange City, Iowa — The Iowa court system is trying a pilot project in Sioux County and five others where text message reminders are sent out for some court services.
Court officials tell us it will remind people of their upcoming court dates and of payments that are due. It’s up and running in Sioux County as well as Shelby, Marshall, Dubuque, Davis, and Polk counties.
They tell us the goal is really to eliminate failures to appear. Forgetting a court date isn’t like missing an appointment. A missed court date pushes everything back for everyone, and can lead to an arrest.
You have to sign up to get the text reminders. Court officials tell us they have been getting a good response when they ask people if they want in.
The system sends out a text seven days before the scheduled event, then three days, and then the day before. They anticipate the court system would expand it to all 99 counties if the pilot continues to go well.
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