Alaska courts offer expanded text-message reminders for upcoming court hearings

The Boney Courthouse in downtown Anchorage, across the street from the larger Nesbett Courthouse, holds the Alaska Supreme Court chambers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska Court System is now offering automatic reminders by text message for people with upcoming court hearings, part of an effort to reduce the number of missed appearances.

The court system announced the service Wednesday. State courts already offer automatic text notifications for jury duty and upcoming criminal cases. 

To sign up for the new service, text a case number to (575) 222-8484. The system will ask for a confirmation. Reply yes. Reminders go out at 4 p.m. the day before the hearing.

People who receive notifications do not need to be part of the case, and there is no limit to the number of signups per phone number.

The court system, which operates the service, will not sell your phone number to a third party, and it will not share it, the court system says in its terms and conditions.

• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.