PIERRE — The South Dakota Unified Judicial System is warning the public about a phone or email scam in which individuals pose as law enforcement and falsely claim that the recipient has missed jury duty, owes fines and will be arrested if they don’t pay. 

The scam, which claims people are in imminent danger of arrest for missing jury duty, is designed to create panic and pressure victims into providing personal information or making immediate payments to avoid arrest. If you receive a jury duty related call or email, do not provide any personal information or send money.

South Dakota’s circuit courts send jury duty summons to people via mail, not by phone or email. While failure to report for jury duty can result in fines, the court will never call you to demand money. The court also does not accept payment via gift cards, pre-paid cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency deposits.

Anyone who receives a jury duty scam phone call or email should report it to the Consumer Protection Division of the South Dakota Office of the Attorney General at 1-800-300-1986 or consumerhelp@state.sd.us.

If you have questions regarding whether you have been summoned for jury duty with South Dakota’s circuit courts, contact your local Clerk of Courts office. For contact information visit https://ujs.sd.gov/Circuit_Court/Default.aspx.