Bill Text: CT HB05541 | 2010 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Juror Service And Selection.

Sponsorship: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-22 - Public Hearing 03/26 [HB05541 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2010-HB05541-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5541
February Session, 2010		LCO No. 2677
		*02677_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT CONCERNING JUROR SERVICE AND SELECTION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 51-217 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(a) All jurors shall be electors, or citizens of the United States who are residents of this state having a permanent place of abode in this state and appear on the list compiled by the Jury Administrator under subsection (b) of section 51-222a, who have reached the age of eighteen. A person shall be disqualified to serve as a juror if such person (1) is found by a judge of the Superior Court to exhibit any quality which will impair the capacity of such person to serve as a juror, except that no person shall be disqualified on the basis of deafness or hearing impairment; (2) has been convicted of a felony within the past seven years or is a defendant in a pending felony case or is in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction; (3) is not able to speak and understand the English language; (4) is the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller or Attorney General; (5) is a judge of the Probate Court, Superior Court, Appellate Court or Supreme Court, is a family support magistrate or is a federal court judge; (6) is a member of the General Assembly, provided such disqualification shall apply only while the General Assembly is in session; (7) is seventy years of age or older and chooses not to perform juror service; or (8) is incapable, by reason of a physical or mental disability, of rendering satisfactory juror service. Any person claiming a disqualification under subdivision (8) of this subsection must submit to the Jury Administrator a letter from a licensed physician stating the physician's opinion that such disability prevents the person from rendering satisfactory juror service. In reaching such opinion, the physician shall apply the following guideline: A person shall be capable of rendering satisfactory juror service if such person is able to perform a sedentary job requiring close attention for six hours per day, with short work breaks in the morning and afternoon sessions, for at least three consecutive business days.

(b) The Jury Administrator may determine, in such manner and at such times as the Jury Administrator deems feasible, whether any person is qualified to serve as juror under this section and whether any person may be excused for extreme hardship.

(c) The Jury Administrator shall have the authority to establish and maintain a list of persons to be excluded from the summoning process, which shall consist of (1) persons who are disqualified from serving on jury duty on a permanent basis due to a disability for which a licensed physician has submitted a letter stating the physician's opinion that such disability permanently prevents the person from rendering satisfactory jury service, (2) persons seventy years of age or older who have requested not to be summoned, (3) elected officials enumerated in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this section and judges enumerated in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this section during their term of office, [and] (4) persons excused from jury service pursuant to section 51-217a who have not requested to be summoned for jury service pursuant to said section; (5) persons who are not citizens of the United States; (6) persons who exercise operational authority over the daily affairs of a small business; and (7) any person attending school or a college, university or other institution of higher education as a regularly enrolled full-time student who has requested not to be summoned during any month of such attendance and has indicated the months of such attendance in such request. Persons requesting to be excluded pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection [must] shall provide the Jury Administrator with their names, addresses, dates of birth and federal Social Security numbers for use in matching. The Jury Administrator may require persons requesting to be excluded pursuant to subdivision (6) or (7) of this subsection to submit a request annually in order to maintain such exclusion. The request to be excluded from the summoning process may be rescinded at any time with written notice to the Jury Administrator. For the purposes of this section, "small business" means any person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, partnership or association actively engaged in business or self-employed for at least three consecutive months that, on at least fifty per cent of its working days during the preceding twelve months, employed no more than fifty employees.

Sec. 2. Section 51-220 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

The number of jurors to be [chosen] summoned for jury duty from each town shall be equal to a percentage of the town's population rounded off to the nearest whole number, such percentage to be determined by the Jury Administrator. Such population figures shall derive from the last published census of the United States government. No juror shall be summoned for jury duty at a court location in a judicial district that does not include the town or a portion of the town in which the juror resides.

Sec. 3. Section 51-232a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

The Jury Administrator may modify the date, location or other condition of juror service in order to meet the urgent needs of the court, except that no juror shall be summoned for jury duty at a court location in a judicial district that does not include the town or a portion of the town in which the juror resides. The Jury Administrator shall employ any means of notice that is appropriate under the circumstances.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2010	51-217
Sec. 2	October 1, 2010	51-220
Sec. 3	October 1, 2010	51-232a

Statement of Purpose:

To: (1) Permit noncitizens, full-time students and small business owners to be excluded from the juror summoning process, and (2) require the Jury Administrator to summon each juror to a court location that is in a judicial district that includes the town in which the juror resides.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]