Automatic enrollment could make text reminders more cost efficient, expert says

Today, most Americans can receive text message-based reminders for doctor’s visits, hair appointments and upcoming sales at their favorite stores. A new report suggests it’s time for states to invest in more innovative communication methods that meet residents’ expectations and needs in an increasingly digital world. 

At least 18 states, plus Washington, D.C., maintain a court date-reminder program under which residents can receive text messages alerting them of potential court hearings they are required to attend, according to a report released last week by Pew. 

However, several of those states, such as Virginia, have not yet expanded their court reminder programs to an automatic enrollment model, said Isabel Shapiro, principal associate with Pew’s courts and communities project. Automatic enrollment aims to optimize the number of individuals who receive a reminder, and, theoretically, reduce the instances of missed court dates. 

Automatic enrollment in text reminders can be implemented through the adoption of an opt-out model, which requires residents to manually unenroll from automated reminders rather than proactively choose to enroll, Shapiro explained. 

In fact, that is the goal of a bill that Virginia will consider for a second time next year. If passed, H.B. 885 would require the state’s Office of the Executive Secretary to transition the existing electronic system from an opt-in to an opt-out model. The project would cost $1.5 million upfront and incur an annual expense of $150,000, according to the bill’s fiscal impact statement. 

While high implementation costs are often a barrier for already strained governments to take on, lawmakers “may not be aware that it's actually expensive not to implement [opt-out] court reminders, and that the offsets are so significant that the upfront investment actually creates a large return on investment,” Shapiro said. 

Indeed, automatic enrollment into a court reminder program could help save Virginia approximately $3.4 million annually if an opt-out reminder system can reduce missed court appearances by 20%, according to the Pew report.

Additionally, Virginia could save an estimated $2 million within the first year of implementing automatic enrollment within its current text reminder system, and annual savings after that could reach more than $3 million, the report states. 

Shapiro pointed to Colorado, which passed legislation in 2022 that enacted the creation of an opt-out court reminder system, as an example of how such a system can enable greater savings. Under the bill, defendants must be automatically enrolled into the reminder program for scheduled court appearances. The law and opt-out program have since resulted in a 30% reduction in missed court dates across the state. 

Opt-in models and other approaches that put the onus on residents to activate text-based reminders are more likely to fall short because they “require folks to first know about the program, find out how to enroll and then follow through on enrolling,” Shapiro explained, adding that “what behavioral science and evidence tells us is that that [model] creates a lot of friction between the individual who could benefit from the program and them actually receiving the benefit.”   

Lapses in court-related communications also have rippling effects on broader criminal justice and law enforcement proceedings, according to the report. 

In 2023, Virginia recorded about 22,954 custodial arrests for criminal cases, and missed court dates were the leading cause of such arrests, outnumbering probation violations, domestic violence, possession of certain drugs and public drunkenness, according to a 2025 study released by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission. 

Further analysis of that data conducted by Pew found that missed court dates cost city, county and state police departments in Virginia $1.6 million to arrest people who failed to appear in court. 

For local justice systems, court absences cost nearly $15 million to hold people in jail for one night or longer, and municipal courts spent an estimated $635,000 in administrative work required to issue defendants new court orders, hearing schedules and additional criminal charges, the Pew report found. 

“Easing the burden of misappearances, which absorbs a lot of time and a lot of money, allows folks to do their jobs more effectively, and for local governments and state governments to serve their communities in the ways that their communities expect,” Shapiro said.

That means courts can “[spend] more time on cases that really require more review and judicial oversight, police [can spend] more time on real public safety issues, and jails [can save] the space and resources to house folks who are coming in for reasons other than simply forgetting a court appearance,” she said.