When a Jury Cannot Reach a Verdict

01What the Court Does When Jurors Disagree

When a jury cannot reach a unanimous decision after deliberating in good faith, the judge declares a mistrial. This outcome, formally called a hung jury, does not mean the defendant is free or that the case is over. It means the legal process must restart, often at considerable cost and emotional burden for everyone involved — especially families waiting outside the courtroom.

02What Happens When a Jury Cannot Reach a Verdict: The Core Mechanics

Understanding What Happens When a Jury Cannot Reach a Verdict begins with knowing how deliberations work. After closing arguments, a jury retreats to a private room to review evidence and reach a unanimous decision. In most criminal cases in the United States, all twelve jurors must agree on a verdict — either guilty or not guilty. When even one juror holds out, the process stalls.

Judges do not immediately declare a mistrial when disagreement surfaces. Courts typically send the jury back for additional deliberations, sometimes issuing what is known as an Allen charge — a set of instructions encouraging jurors to reconsider their positions in light of what their fellow jurors are saying. This instruction is used in federal courts and many state courts, and its purpose is to nudge the jury toward resolution without coercing anyone to abandon a genuine belief.

If further deliberation fails, the foreperson notifies the judge that the jury cannot agree. The judge then questions the jurors to confirm that continued deliberation would be genuinely fruitless. Once satisfied, the judge formally declares a mistrial due to a hung jury and discharges the panel.

A mistrial is not an acquittal. The defendant does not walk free on legal principle alone. Instead, the prosecution retains the option to retry the case with a new jury, negotiate a plea, or decline to pursue the charges further. The choice rests with the prosecutor's office, and that decision can take days, weeks, or even months to finalize.

03How Common Are Hung Juries in Criminal Cases

Hung juries are relatively rare in the American criminal system. Research published through the National Center for State Courts has found that hung juries occur in roughly five to six percent of criminal jury trials. That figure is lower in federal courts, where prosecutorial screening is intensive before cases reach trial at all.

High-profile cases tend to skew public perception. When a celebrity defendant or a politically charged case results in a hung jury, the news coverage amplifies the event. The reality is that most criminal trials end in a definitive verdict — guilty or not guilty — without jurors deadlocking. Still, for the families involved, that small percentage represents enormous disruption to real lives.

Cases involving complex evidence, credibility disputes between witnesses, or charges that carry significant moral weight are more likely to produce disagreement in the jury room. Crimes where the law itself is ambiguous or where community opinion is sharply divided can also generate hung outcomes. Understanding the statistical rarity of hung juries helps families put the experience in context without minimizing how serious it is.

04The Defendant's Legal Rights After a Mistrial

A hung jury does not trigger double jeopardy protections, which is one of the most misunderstood points in criminal justice. Double jeopardy — the constitutional protection against being tried twice for the same crime — only attaches after an acquittal or a conviction. Because a hung jury produces neither outcome, the prosecution may retry the defendant without any Fifth Amendment barrier.

The defendant does retain the right to bail during the period between the mistrial and any potential retrial, assuming they were eligible for bail originally. The judge may revisit bail conditions, either tightening or relaxing them based on new information. Families need to know that a loved one held in pretrial detention through the first trial may remain in custody if bail is denied or remains unaffordable.

During this uncertain period, having clear information about where a loved one is being held and how to maintain contact becomes critical. Families scrambling to figure out how to find someone in jail during the retrial process are navigating multiple systems simultaneously — the court calendar, the jail's administrative process, and often a maze of third-party services. Knowing which channels are legitimate matters.

Defense attorneys play a central role in advising clients after a mistrial. They assess whether the prosecution is likely to retry, whether new evidence might emerge, or whether a plea negotiation is now more viable. Families should not interpret a hung jury as a sign that the legal battle is nearly over — it often means a second, equally demanding chapter is beginning.

05What Prosecutors Decide After a Hung Jury

The prosecution has broad discretion after a mistrial. In cases where the jury split was close — say, eleven to one in favor of conviction — prosecutors often move quickly to schedule a retrial, viewing the hung jury as a near-miss that better trial strategy can correct. When the split favors acquittal, prosecutors face a harder calculation about whether the public interest is served by spending additional resources on a second trial.

In some cases, a hung jury gives both sides a clearer picture of the weaknesses in their arguments. Prosecutors may use the period before retrial to gather additional evidence, secure new witnesses, or refine their presentation. Defense attorneys similarly assess where their case landed with the jury and prepare adjustments.

Elected prosecutors and district attorneys must also consider community sentiment and resource constraints. A retrial is expensive in court time, witness coordination, and public defender or prosecution staffing. For misdemeanor cases or those involving minor charges, a hung jury sometimes effectively ends the prosecution because the office cannot justify the cost of a second trial.

The timeline from mistrial to retrial decision varies widely. Some jurisdictions move within weeks; others take months. During that window, defendants and families live in legal limbo, which is why real-time court tracking tools and attorney referrals are valuable resources at this stage.

06How Families Can Track Court Dates and Case Status

Court tracking is one of the most practical tools available to families navigating the aftermath of a mistrial. After a hung jury is declared, a new court date is typically set — either for a retrial, a status conference, or a hearing related to bail or charges. Missing that date, or not knowing it exists, can have serious consequences for a defendant still in custody.

Most county court systems maintain online dockets that update when new hearings are scheduled. The challenge is that these systems vary enormously by jurisdiction, and many are not user-friendly for people without legal training. Families often spend hours calling clerks' offices or refreshing court websites hoping to catch an update.

Proactive alerts tied to a case's docket can make this process far less exhausting. When the next hearing date is posted or a case status changes, an alert delivered directly to a family member removes the burden of constant manual checking. This type of court-tracking support sits at the core of what advocacy-oriented tools aim to deliver.

Legal rights extend beyond the courtroom — families deserve to understand not just what is happening legally, but when and where. A retrial is a logistical event as much as it is a legal one, and preparing for it requires information delivered in plain language, on time.

07Services That Help Families During Criminal Proceedings: A Comparison

Families navigating a hung jury, a pending retrial, or a loved one's ongoing incarceration often turn to services that promise to simplify their situation. The quality, legitimacy, and cost of those services vary significantly. Below is a look at several services operating in this space and how they compare.

08GTL Financial Services

GTL Financial Services, now operating as Telmate Financial, has long been one of the largest providers of jail commissary deposits and inmate communication services in the country. The company has contracts with hundreds of county jail systems across multiple states, giving it broad reach for families trying to send money to someone in jail or fund phone accounts.

GTL processes high transaction volume, but its fee structures have drawn criticism from consumer advocates and inmate rights organizations. Families using the service may encounter transaction fees that vary significantly depending on the facility and the deposit method chosen. The company's reach is an asset, but the cost burden on low-income families has been documented in multiple state-level regulatory proceedings.

For families specifically looking for court date alerts or legal referrals after a mistrial, GTL's platform is not oriented toward that need. Its focus is transactional — deposits and communications — rather than case tracking or navigating the criminal justice process holistically.

09JPay

JPay, a subsidiary of Securus Technologies, operates in a similar commissary and communications space as GTL. The company serves a large number of state prison systems and county jails, and its mobile app allows families to send funds, messages, and in some cases video visits. For families whose loved one has moved from county jail to state prison, JPay's reach into the state system is relevant.

JPay's interface is relatively straightforward for deposits, and it has worked to improve its app experience in recent years. However, like many companies in this space, its fee schedules are facility-specific and can be difficult to predict in advance. Reviews from families consistently note that fee transparency before completing a transaction remains a frustration.

JPay does not provide legal referrals, court date tracking, or support for families navigating the procedural aftermath of a hung jury. Families needing that layer of support will need to look beyond deposit platforms.

10InMato LLC

InMato LLC is an information, search, and referral service — not a bail bond company, law firm, money transmitter, or payment processor. It is explicitly designed for the kind of sustained, multi-step navigation that families face during long legal proceedings, including the drawn-out uncertainty that follows a hung jury.

InMato's county jail inmate search is free for every family with no time limit, covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. The service never touches user money — when a family is ready to make a jail commissary deposit, InMato connects them to the official licensed provider at that facility, not an imitation or lookalike site. That distinction matters enormously in a space where predatory payment sites frequently appear in search results alongside legitimate providers.

InMato+ adds proactive jail booking alerts, release and transfer notifications, court date alerts, and real-time case tracking with court-document summaries at $19.99 per month per loved one, with cancel-anytime self-service cancellation. For families in the middle of a retrial timeline who cannot afford to miss a court date or a custody change, that alert layer is practical rather than aspirational. InMato also provides bail bond and attorney referrals to licensed, verified providers — a direct response to the gap left by services that handle only financial transactions. InMato is a Delaware limited liability company, and its founders built it on the premise that families deserve dignity, not fear-based upsells.

11OffenderConnect

OffenderConnect offers communication and messaging services for incarcerated individuals in certain facility types, though its reach is narrower than the larger national providers. The platform focuses primarily on digital messaging and video visitation, and some facility contracts include tablet programs that allow limited internet access for incarcerated individuals. For families in jurisdictions where OffenderConnect holds contracts, it can be a useful communication channel.

Its limitations are significant for families in the specific context of hung juries and retrials. OffenderConnect does not offer legal referrals, attorney connections, or court date tracking. Its service scope stays within the communication lane, leaving families to piece together the legal and logistical dimensions of a long criminal proceeding on their own.

12JailATM

JailATM is a deposit service that allows families to add funds to a loved one's inmate trust account, often marketed around kiosk-based deposits at or near jail facilities. The InMato vs JailATM comparison is a common one for families researching their options. JailATM processes transactions but does not offer the search, alert, or referral functions that families navigating criminal proceedings beyond a simple deposit need.

Questions about whether JailATM or similar platforms are safe to use are understandable — is InMato legit is a parallel question families ask, and the answer is grounded in InMato's explicit positioning as a referral service that sends families only to official, licensed providers, never holding funds itself. JailATM's core function is transactional, and for families who need broader support through a retrial process, it does not fill that gap.

13Securus Technologies

Securus Technologies is one of the dominant players in the incarcerated communications industry, with contracts across a large portion of U.S. detention facilities. The company offers phone services, video visitation, electronic messaging, and financial services under various sub-brands. Its scale means that in many jurisdictions, Securus is simply the only available provider.

The company has faced ongoing criticism and regulatory scrutiny regarding call rates and fee structures, including Federal Communications Commission proceedings that have stretched over years. For families trying to maintain contact during a long legal process, cost is a real consideration. Families researching how to send money to someone in jail or how to fund phone accounts often encounter Securus through its facility contracts before they have a chance to compare alternatives.

Securus does not offer attorney referrals, court date tracking, or support for families navigating the post-mistrial period. Its platform is built for transactional communication services, not for the guidance and information families need when the legal process extends into months or years.

14The Role of Bail Between a Mistrial and Retrial

After a mistrial, a defendant's bail status does not automatically reset. The existing bail conditions generally remain in place unless the judge modifies them at a subsequent hearing. Families who scraped together resources for the first bail arrangement may face renewed pressure if the prosecution seeks stricter conditions ahead of a retrial.

Understanding the bail landscape requires knowing who to call and which licensed providers are operating in a given jurisdiction. InMato's attorney and bail bond referral function connects families to verified, licensed providers — not the lookalike sites that appear in paid search slots and sometimes charge undisclosed fees before delivering any service. Searching for a find loved one in jail free option during this period is a common starting point, and having a trustworthy entry point matters.

Court date alerts delivered through InMato+ also help families track whether bail hearings are scheduled between the mistrial and the retrial start date, so no critical appearance is missed. For families juggling work, childcare, and financial stress, automated alerts are not a luxury — they are the difference between staying informed and falling behind.

15What Families Should Do Immediately After a Hung Jury

The hours following a hung jury declaration are disorienting for families. The instinct is often to wait for the defense attorney to call with guidance, but attorneys are frequently managing multiple cases and may not reach out immediately. Families can take practical steps in the meantime.

First, confirm the defendant's custody status and location. After a mistrial, a defendant may be briefly moved as administrative processes reset, and knowing exactly which facility holds them is the starting point for everything else — contact, commissary deposits, and coordination with legal counsel. Using a county jail inmate search tool can confirm location without requiring calls to multiple facilities.

Second, ask the defense attorney directly about the likelihood of retrial and the expected timeline. The attorney has the most accurate read on what the prosecution is likely to do and what the next procedural steps look like. Write down the names and dates of any upcoming hearings, and set calendar alerts for each one. Do not rely on memory during a high-stress period.

Third, assess communication access. If a loved one remains in custody pending a retrial, maintaining regular contact supports their mental health and keeps the family informed. Identify the official phone and commissary provider at their facility — not through a general internet search, but through a service that links directly to official facility providers to avoid predatory sites.

16How Long a Retrial Takes to Begin

Retrial timelines depend heavily on jurisdiction, court capacity, and whether the prosecution moves quickly or deliberates. In some federal courts, retrials have begun within sixty days of a mistrial. In congested state court systems, the wait can stretch to a year or more.

During that wait, defendants who remain in custody face extended pretrial detention that has real consequences — loss of employment, housing instability, and family separation. The criminal justice system's timelines rarely align with the pace of real life. Families need to prepare for the long view rather than expecting rapid resolution.

The emotional labor of waiting for a retrial is significant. Families benefit from community support, accurate information, and tools that reduce the administrative burden of tracking a case. When the information layer is handled — location confirmed, court dates monitored, providers verified — families can direct their energy toward emotional support rather than paperwork.

17About InMato LLC

InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

18Get Started with InMato LLC

Search for your loved one now at inmato.com — free for every family, with no time limit. Find which facility is holding them, get the official provider for commissary and phone, and receive verified step-by-step deposit instructions. No account required to search. Available in English and Spanish. Results in 48 hours or less.

Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/when-jury-cannot-reach-verdict

Written by InMato

19Related Articles

• [The Impact of a Criminal Record on Employment](https://www.inmato.com/blog/criminal-record-impacts-employment-opportunities)
• [Probation Violations: What Happens After Release](https://www.inmato.com/blog/probation-violations-what-happens-after-release)
• [Interstate Probation Transfers: What You Need to Know](https://www.inmato.com/blog/interstate-probation-transfers-what-you-need-to-know)