Court cards are those documents newcomers bring to meetings to have signed to prove to the government that they have attended a NA meeting.
Attendance cards or sheets are from non-governmental agencies such as therapeutic communities, treatment or other entity wishing to verify attendance by their clients at a NA meeting.
There is some differences of opinion on the issue where some groups don’t believe in signing these cards as they believe it is a violation of the Sixth Tradition (endorsing an outside enterprise). Other groups don’t believe it is a violation feeling that it is an individual service and not one of NA as a whole.
The Sixth Tradition states, “An NA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the NA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.”
Who’s right? The World Board responded with Bulletin 31 and advises that it is up to the group conscience to decide if cards are to be signed or not.
Below we list a variety of court card related guides and materials collected from around the world.
World Services Meeting Notes, Vienna, Virginia, September 2001
This bulletin, written in 2002 by the World Board, is meant to serve as a response to the numerous inquiries received from groups regarding meeting attendance cards:
Paper written by the UK Region’s PI Committee clarifying PI’s perspective on “chits”, 2005:
UKPI Chits or Court Cards 2005
Paper written by Florida and South Florida regional PI committees on court cards, 2001 (updated 2005):
Court Cards Florida South Florida 2001
NAWS item regarding our contact with drug courts, NAWS News 1999:
Drug Courts: A PI Success, 1999
A group presents a document for PR use on why this group does not sign court or attendance cards:
Group Court Card Signing Policy – Nassau, Florida – 2008