News Item
Statewide hearing eReminders rolled out for eight major case types

Posted: Monday, October 14, 2019

Parties to a court case can now enroll in optional eReminders to receive a text and email notification to remind them of an upcoming court date. Notifications are available for parties with an Adult Criminal/Traffic, Juvenile Delinquency, Juvenile Traffic, Juvenile Petty Offense, Domestic Abuse, Family, Eviction, or Juvenile Protection case in Minnesota District (Trial) Court. Hearing eReminders will notify parties of the date, time, and location of an upcoming hearing.
 
During an 18-month pilot of hearing eReminders in Hennepin County District Court, bench warrants for failures to appear dropped by 25 percent. During the same time frame, July 2017 through January 2019, parties who received some form of hearing eReminder were 35 percent more likely to show up to their hearings.
 
“Hearing eReminders have been shown to improve hearing attendance and reduce the number of bench warrants for failures to appear,” said Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea. “The statewide launch of hearing eReminders is another example of a successful Minnesota Judicial Branch pilot project proving effective for Minnesotans and being improved and expanded to the full state.”
 
In most cases, two reminders will be sent: a reminder three days before the hearing, and another one day before the hearing. Reminders are sent only one day before the hearing for Eviction cases and only three days before the hearing for Adoption cases. Enrollment in eReminders an optional courtesy service to help parties remember to appear for a scheduled hearing, but do not replace an official notice to appear. Parties will still need to follow instructions from the court for all required appearances.
 
Additional information regarding eligible case types and access to the enrollment portal can be found at mncourts.gov/Hearing-eReminders.