Having spent years implementing public policy for elected officials, I’ve learned to pay attention to which way the political winds are blowing. In a field where consensus on almost anything related to criminal justice seems impossible, court date reminders are one of the rare exceptions. The wind is blowing in the same direction from every point on the compass.
A November 2025 Pew Charitable Trusts poll of 2,016 U.S. adults found that 71% view court reminders positively. Only 8% see them negatively. The partisan breakdown is notable: 77% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans responded positively. When neutral responses are included, overall support rises to 90% or higher across every party affiliation, income level, education level, age group, and racial and ethnic background Pew tested. That is not just a polling result; it is a consensus.
For court administrators assessing whether the political climate supports implementing a reminder program, the answer is as clear as data can get.
Why does the left support it
Progressive organizations frame court reminders as a tool for addressing systemic barriers that fall hardest on people experiencing poverty and communities of color. The Vera Institute of Justice puts it plainly: people with the fewest resources face the most obstacles in getting to court, and arresting them for a missed court date only deepens their involvement in the system.
The data support that framing. Research by ideas42 found that Black residents are arrested for bench warrants at three to four times the rate of white residents in studied jurisdictions, and that reminders were twice as effective for court users living in the least wealthy neighborhoods. A 2022 study in the Journal of Experimental Criminology concluded that court reminders may reduce racial disparities in FTA rates.
The ACLU, the Pretrial Justice Institute, and FWD.us have all supported reminder programs for similar reasons. Public defender offices in Santa Clara County, Cook County, and Contra Costa County have put these programs in place, with Contra Costa reporting that about one-third of defendants who appeared for their first court date only learned about it because they were contacted beforehand.
Why does the right support it
Conservative organizations have reached the same conclusion through a different argument: fiscal responsibility and government efficiency.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) created a model bill called “An Act to Establish a Court Appearance Reminder Program and Reduce Failure to Appear,” noting that each missed court appearance that results in a warrant costs the government about $1,496 in time and resources. The R Street Institute, in a 2026 testimony supporting Virginia’s HB 885, estimated that Virginia’s current system costs $17.2 million annually in law enforcement and detention expenses, compared to a $1.5 million cost to implement a statewide reminder program. Their message: “Doctors and dentists use text reminders because they work. Courts should do the same.”
Right on Crime, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s criminal justice initiative, with signatories including Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist, presented the same argument as one of fiscal responsibility. Texas ultimately allocated up to $2.2 million for its statewide program. Law enforcement has followed suit: the National Sheriffs’ Association promoted a Louisiana parish program, and the County Sheriffs of Colorado supported expanding the state’s court reminder program. Their reasoning was operational, not ideological. As Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre explained, many people with outstanding warrants had forgotten their court dates.
What the legislation shows
The bipartisan support in polling maps directly translates to bipartisan cosponsorship and floor votes.
A Democrat and a Republican in both chambers jointly sponsored Colorado’s SB19-036 in 2019. The follow-up expansion bill in 2022 passed the Senate 31-2 and the House 54-11. Texas enacted its statewide program in a Republican-controlled legislature on a bill authored by a Democrat. Virginia’s HB 885 passed the House 96-0 this year. New York’s court reminder mandate, embedded in its 2019 bail reform package, was never contested and survived all subsequent amendments.
These are not narrow wins. They are the kind of vote counts that reflect genuine institutional agreement.
Where the gap is
Despite this consensus, implementation remains uneven. A May 2025 Pew survey of all 50 states found that only 18 states, plus Washington, D.C., have a statewide court reminder program. Nineteen states have no program at all. Ten have programs that reach only some jurisdictions.
The design issues worsen the coverage gaps. Most states with programs require people to opt in, leading to predictable outcomes. Pennsylvania’s opt-in system reaches only 2% of eligible court users. Arizona’s automatic enrollment system reaches 90%. New Mexico reaches 72%. The enrollment gap isn’t a technology problem; it’s a design choice that most states are still making incorrectly.
The ideas42 2025 implementation guide, created with the Pew Charitable Trusts, highlights the opt-out model as the most critical design choice a court can make. When people are automatically enrolled, only about 2% opt out. The evidence on message design is equally clear: reminders that detail the consequences of missing court, what to expect, and include a plan-making prompt can reduce failure-to-appear rates by up to 26%. A 7-3-1 timing schedule—sending reminders 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before the hearing—generates the strongest results.
A 2025 randomized controlled trial in Santa Clara County, published in Science Advances, added another data point: text message reminders reduced bench warrants by 20% and pretrial incarceration due to missed court dates by 21%. The study included 5,709 public defender clients across both misdemeanor and felony cases.
The implementation case
The cost-benefit analysis is clear. Reminder systems usually cost between $8,000 and $16,000 annually. Each missed court date is estimated to cost about $1,496 in government resources. A court managing 10,000 cases each year could save roughly $1.75 million annually. ideas42’s (Un)warranted initiative reports that preventing over 125,000 missed court dates has saved $357 million across partner jurisdictions.
There is no organized opposition. The bail bond industry hasn’t campaigned against reminders. No victim advocacy group has raised concerns. The only documented individual opposition in the legislative record came from a single Maine defense attorney who argued that existing written notices should suffice. That position is hard to reconcile with the Pew finding that 37% of people who missed court said they forgot.
Court administrators operate in a political environment where almost any decision invites criticism from one side or another. Court date reminders are an exception. The left sees equity; the right sees cost savings. Law enforcement sees fewer warrants to pursue. The public, across every demographic Pew tested, sees common sense.
The evidence has existed for years. The political cover is now documented on a large scale. The only remaining question for courts without a program is how much longer they can justify the status quo.
Sources:
- Pew Charitable Trusts — Court Reminders Have Broad Bipartisan Support (November 2025)
- Vera Institute of Justice — Millions of People in the U.S. Miss Their Court Date
- ideas42 — Improving Court Attendance: The Essential Guide to Court Reminder Programs
- Journal of Experimental Criminology — Court Date Reminders and Racial Disparities (2022)
- ALEC — Model Bill: An Act to Establish a Court Appearance Reminder Program
- R Street Institute — Testimony in Support of Virginia HB 885
- Right on Crime — Principles and Signatories
- Texas Judicial Branch — Court Reminder Program
- National Sheriffs’ Association — Lafourche Parish Text Reminder Program
- Colorado SB19-036
- Colorado SB22-018
- Virginia HB 885 (2026)
- Pew Charitable Trusts — States Underuse Court Date Reminders (May 2025)
- ideas42 — (Un)warranted Initiative
- Science Advances — Automated Reminders Reduce Incarceration for Missed Court Dates (October 2025)
About Greg Shugart
Director of Government Relations
Greg Shugart brings over 30 years of public sector experience to the eCourtDate team, with a background in court administration, criminal justice reform, and government operations. He previously served as Criminal Courts Administrator for Tarrant County, Texas, where he led statewide-recognized initiatives in pretrial modernization, court communications, and system efficiency. Greg now contributes to eCourtDate’s strategy and partnerships, helping agencies implement technology that improves access, compliance, and trust in the justice system.