Section 1. Legislative findings and purpose. The Legislature finds that: 

 (a) Every missed court appearance where a warrant is a consequence costs the government an estimated $1,496 in time and resources; 

 (b)Every missed court appearance where a warrant is a consequence drastically impacts a person’s life and economic potential, harms their family and employer, and costs that person an estimated $1,354 in lost wages, benefits, and sanctions;  

(c) Validated research and jurisdictional practice establish that missed court appearances can be reduced by 20-40% through court appearance reminder programs; 

(d) Establishing a court appearance reminder program will enable [Insert State] to: 

1. Improve the efficiency and quality of justice in [Insert State]; 
2.  Reduce costs and wasted resources associated with missed court dates in [Insert State] by tens of millions of dollars annually; and 
3.  Significantly reduce the number of people subject to warrants, arrest, and jail      solely because of missed court appearances, and the negative impacts that extend to their families, employers, and communities.

Section 2. Definitions. For purposes of this Act, the following terms have the following meanings: 

1. “Defendant” includes a person alleged to have committed a criminal or traffic violation who may be subject to a warrant for nonappearance at a court hearing. 

Section 3. Establishment of statewide program for participating courts. 

(a) The Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State] ​​shall develop, make available, and require ​​the clerk of courts for the ​​​​municipal, county, and state courts to employ a court reminder program that sends text ​​or email messages before every out of custody court date, to notify and remind all defendants for whom a warrant may be issued for nonappearance of every court date for which they are scheduled to appear. The purposes of the program must include: 

1.  (1) Reducing government costs associated with defendants not appearing at a scheduled court date; 
2. (2) Improving the efficiency of courts in this state; 
3. (3) Helping to ensure that defendants attend each out of custody court date for which they have been scheduled; and 
4. (4) Reducing the number of missed court dates and the resulting issuance of Failure to Appear charges, warrants, and related arrests and jail time. 

 (b) The program must: 

1.  Be available to each court and all defendants at no cost to defendants; 
2.  Automatically enroll ​​all defendants who have provided cell phone or email contact information to receive text or email message reminders for each out of custody court appearance through their preferred form of delivery and using text as the default method where no preference is provided; 
3. Send a welcome message upon enrollment, to notify defendants that the court will send upcoming reminders, how to access alternate languages, and the option to opt-out of receiving reminders;  
4.  Provide three text or email reminders before each out of custody court appearance, one to be sent the day before the court appearance; 
5.  Use plain language in each reminder message, including the court appearance date, time, and court name and/or address.  Messages shall follow best practices in court date reminder content, frequency, and timing, and include on at least two of the messages the consequences of nonappearance and contact information for questions relating to the appearance; 
6.  Provide the recipient the ability to receive reminders in a different language offered by the program. If the initial reminder is not delivered in the primary language of the recipient;   
7.  Provide the link to the virtual court appearance in at least the final reminder sent before the appearance for court appearances that can be attended virtually; 
8.  Mail court date reminders 14 days in advance of the court date, in a manner otherwise consistent with this Act, to all defendants from whom text or email contact information has not been received, and include in this mailing instructions for providing an email or text for subsequent communications; 
9. Provide at least one text or email notice within one day after any missed court date, and by mail if text or email contact information is unavailable, notifying the defendant how to resolve the nonappearance, including how to clear a warrant if one has issued; 
10. Include the capability to provide additional information to criminal defendants concerning scheduled court appearances, such as available transportation options, court closures or changes in court dates, and procedures for defendants who are unable to attend court appearances; 
11. Secure input from and coordinate with state and local courts, law enforcement agencies, jails, public defenders, and other stakeholders directly involved in establishing, operating, and administering elements of the reminder system, in accordance with the purposes described by Subsection (a), to ensure that intake processes and/or relevant forms include fields to record the defendant’s cell phone and email contact information, and that law enforcement, corrections, and court staff are educated, trained, and required to secure or update that information upon each contact with the defendant and convey that information to the court reminder program; 
12.  Be capable of promptly receiving and integrating defendant contact information from law enforcement agencies, jails, public defender agencies, courts, and other stakeholders upon every documentation of or change in defendant contact information, in a manner that enables reminders to be sent to the updated contact information in advance of every scheduled court hearing, in accordance with this Act; 
13. Provide one or more publicly available internet websites through which eligible criminal and traffic defendants may request text or email reminders, update their contact information, and input or update language preferences; 
14.  Collect monthly data for all court dates eligible for the reminder program, for all 12 months prior to and following implementation, on the following: 
    • (A) Number of defendants eligible for the court reminder programs;
    •  (B) Number of defendants who provide an email or mobile phone number upon arrest;
    •  (C) Number of defendants successfully enrolled with email or mobile phone contact information in the court reminder program;
    • (D) Number of defendants to whom reminders were mailed because email and mobile phone contact information were not provided, including how many mailed reminders were sent to each these individuals, and any other information such that it can be determined whether any mailed reminder prompted a person to provide email or text contact information;
    • (E) Number of messages sent by text, by email, and by mail prior to the court dates and after missed court dates;
    • (F) Number of messages successfully delivered by text, by email, and by mail prior to the court dates and after missed court dates;
    • (G) Total number of nonappearances at scheduled court dates: overall, and with and without reminders;
    • (H) Total number of scheduled court dates: overall, and with and without reminders;
    • (I) Number of appearances resolved without arrest: overall, and with and without reminders;
    •  (J) Number of defendants who opt out of receiving reminders.  

 (c) Clerks of Courts required by subsection (a) of this Section to employ a court reminder program may establish or retain their own court reminder program, where that system allows the court to send a text or email message in a manner consistent with the state program established under this Act. 

(d) Other courts for which there are sanctions for nonappearance may join the state program developed under this section, at no cost to that court. 

(e) Refusal to provide a cell phone number or email address to the law enforcement agency shall not be held against a defendant for any purpose. 

(f) Contact information collected shall be used solely for court reminders, including upcoming court dates, changes in case status, court closures, and other official court notices; and shall not be used by the courts or law enforcement agencies for any other purpose including for an investigation, the filing of a complaint, as evidence, or to enhance bail or remand. 

Section 4. Establishment of court appearance reminder program working group. 

(a) The General Assembly shall establish the Court Appearance Reminder Program Working Group, a working group to study best practices in court appearance reminder programs, to assess the effectiveness of the court reminder program established under this Act, and to make recommendations to the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State] regarding, but not limited to: 

1. The fundamental elements of a reminder program that functions in accord with best practices; and 
2. Any recommended changes or needs relating to the court reminder program, to improve its effectiveness and further decrease missed court dates and resulting warrants for Failure to Appear, including but not limited to:  
   • (A) Securing and conveying mobile phone and email contact information from defendants to effectively enable reminders through the court reminder program for every court date, including the first out of custody appearance;
   • (B) Reminder message content, timing, and frequency of delivery;
   • (C) Ability to effectively offer multi-lingual messaging; 
   • (D) Supports and coordination required from various stakeholders to enable reminders to reach all qualifying individuals before each scheduled court date;
   •  (E) Data collection about the system’s operations and impacts; and  
   • (F) Any additional opportunities identified to reduce criminal court nonappearances.    

 (b) The Judicial Branch shall provide staff support necessary for the Working Group to carry out its duties. 

 (c) The Working Group shall consist of: 

1. The Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State], or the Administrator’s designee, who shall convene and chair the Working Group; 
2. The Director of Information Technology of the Supreme Court of [Insert State] or their designee;  
3. A Clerk from the County court system as designated by the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State]; 
4. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Municipal/County Clerks, or their designee; 
5. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Municipal/County Judges or their designee;  
6. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of District Attorneys or their designee; 
7. The [Insert State] Public Defender or their designee; 
8. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers or their designee; 
9. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Sheriffs or their designee; 
10. The Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Chiefs of Police or their designee; 
11. The Director of the [Insert State] Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections of their designee; 
12. The Director of a non-profit organization specializing in best practices for ​court ​reminder programs or their designee, as appointed by the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State]; 
13. One member appointed by the [Insert State] Senate President Pro Tempore; 
14. One member appointed by the [Insert State] Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 
15. One member appointed by the Governor.   

 (d) A vacancy on the Working Group must be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. 

 (e) On or before [Insert Date], the appointing authorities shall make appointments to the Working Group and inform the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State] of the appointments. 

 (f) The Working Group shall meet quarterly. The Chair shall convene the first Working Group meeting no later than [Insert Date] and shall convene each meeting of the Working Group thereafter. 

 (g) The Working Group may request data and information from the state, county, and municipal court systems and other stakeholders central to the optimal functioning of the court reminder program, which shall provide all requested information available to them. 

(h) The Working Group shall create a Committee on Forms and Processes Relating to Court Appearances, which can include Working Group members and non-members, to survey relevant stakeholders at all levels across the state, consider evidence-based best practices, and provide recommendations to the Working Group about improvements to forms conveying court date information and all processes for collecting defendants’ contact information for the reminder program, for the purposes of: 

1. Securing and conveying defendants’ cell phone and email contact information for the reminder program; and
2. Updating all forms conveying court date information in accord with best practices based on credible field, academic, or laboratory research for securing court appearance. Forms shall be written in clear, plain language and highlight the following at the top of the form: 
   • (A) A clear title describing the purpose and action required of the recipient;
   • (B) The case number and charge(s);
   • (C) The date, time, and place of the first court appearance, including video link if applicable;
   • (D) The consequences for missing the court date; and
   • (E) Phone and email contact information for questions or concerns relating to their court appearance.  

(i) The Working Group will present its recommendations to the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State], Senate President, Speaker of the House, Executive Director of the [Insert State] Association of Counties, and Executive Director of the [Insert State] Municipal League, and will make the recommendations available to the public by December 31 of each year, from (designated five year period). 

Section 5. Implementation timeline. 

Not later than [Insert Date], the Chief Court Administrator of the Supreme Court of [Insert State] shall develop and make available the court reminder program as required by Section 3 of this Act. 

Section 6. Appropriations. 

(a) For the 20XX-20XX [Insert State] fiscal year, $[X] is appropriated to the Judiciary to implement this Act, for the purposes of: 

1. Establishing a plan to develop, implement, and administer an automated court ​     ​reminder program that is consistent with data-supported best practices for all cases where a warrant may issue for nonappearance; 
2. Initiating development of the court reminder program described in this Act; 
3. Securing and implementing the technology to enable this reminder program to function as required under this Act;  
4. Providing necessary education and training for all court employees and those of other agencies essential to enabling this reminder system’s effective functioning; and 
5.  Initial implementation of the reminder program. 

Section 7. Prohibited Defenses.

• (a) A failure on part of the state to successfully deliver a court appearance reminder to a defendant does not provide a legal defense for a defendant or support to any other legal defenses, for failure to appear.

Section 8. Effective Date. This Act takes effect [Insert Date].