Sherburne Co. Sheriff: Calls About Missing Jury Duty & Court Date Are 'Phony'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about phony calls informing the recipients that they missed jury duty or a court appearance.

According to Sheriff Joel Brott, the sheriff's office has received reports from people who received phone calls "informing them that they have missed jury duty or a court appearance and that they need to go to the Government Center."

Some of the calls have a call-back number for the sheriff's office, but the calls are not coming from the sheriff's office, Brott said. The calls originate from a male individual and/or a voicemail identifying themselves as someone from the sheriff's office.

Brott says this is not the way the Sherburne County handles missed court dates or missed jury duty.

"If someone missies a court date or jury duty, that person typically gets a written summons and a call from Court Administration," Brott said.

At least one of the phone calls told a Sherburne County resident to go to the Hennepin County Government Center to take care of a warrant. The caller also told the resident to purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak debit card to pay for his warrant, according to Brott.

The sheriff's office is investigating the source of the calls.