Bill Text: IL HB4969 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Counties Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning boundaries.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Failed) 2014-12-03 - Session Sine Die [HB4969 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB4969-Amended.html

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Rep. Dwight Kay

Filed: 4/1/2014

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4969
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4969 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section
4-11001.5 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/4-11001.5 new)
Sec. 4-11001.5. Lengthy Trial Fund.
(a) The Lengthy Trial Fund is established as a special fund
in the State treasury. Moneys in the Lengthy Trial Fund shall
be used to provide full or partial wage replacement or wage
supplementation to jurors who serve as petit jurors for more
than 10 days.
(b) The Supreme Court shall adopt rules providing for the
following:
(1) the selection and appointment of an administrator
for the Fund;

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(2) procedures for its administration that provide
that moneys in the Fund shall be used to make wage
replacement or wage supplementation as provided in this
Section to jurors participating on juries in trials where
jury service extends 11 days or longer and to recover all
the costs of administering the Fund, including payments of
salaries of the administrator and other necessary
personnel;
(3) the accounting, auditing, and investment of moneys
in the Lengthy Trial Fund in accordance with State law
pertaining to similar funds; and
(4) the inclusion of a report by the Supreme Court on
the administration of the Lengthy Trial Fund in its annual
report on the judicial branch, setting forth the moneys
collected for and disbursed from the Fund.
(c) Notwithstanding any other fees payable under the laws
of this State, the clerk of the circuit court shall collect for
each new filing in a civil case, unless otherwise exempted
under this Section, a fee of $10 per case for deposit into the
Lengthy Trial Fund. A new filing is deemed to have been made at
the time in an action that the first pleading or other filing
on which an individual's or attorney's name appears is
submitted to the court for filing. The clerk of the circuit
court shall forward all fees collected under this subsection
(c) to the administrator of the Lengthy Trial Fund for deposit.
(d) The administrator shall, on or before the 15th day of

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each month, transmit all moneys received from any clerk of the
circuit court to the State Treasurer for deposit into the
Lengthy Trial Fund.
(e) The administrator shall use the fees deposited in the
Lengthy Trial Fund to pay replacement or supplemental wages
under subsection (g) to jurors whose employers pay less than
full regular wages.
(f) Not more than 3% of the moneys in the Lengthy Trial
Fund may be used for the reasonable and necessary costs of
administering the Fund.
(g) The court may pay replacement or supplemental wages of
up to $300 per day per juror beginning on the 11th day of jury
service. In addition, if a juror who qualifies for payment by
virtue of having served on a jury for more than 10 days, the
court may, upon finding that the service posed a significant
financial hardship to a juror, even in light of payments made
with respect to jury service after the tenth day, award
replacement or supplemental wages of up to $100 per day from
the 4th to the 10th day of jury service.
(h) A juror who is serving or has served on a jury that
qualifies for payment from the Lengthy Trial Fund, provided the
service commenced on or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, may submit a
request for payment from the Lengthy Trial Fund on a form that
the administrator provides. Payment shall be limited to the
difference between the State-paid jury fee and the actual

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amount of wages a juror earns, up to the maximum level payable,
minus any amount the juror actually receives from the employer
during the same time period.
The request for payment shall disclose the juror's regular
wages, the amount the employer will pay during the term of jury
service starting on the 11th day and thereafter, the amount of
replacement or supplemental wages requested, and any other
information the administrator deems necessary for proper
payment.
The juror shall also submit verification from the employer
as to the wage information provided to the administrator, such
as the employee's most recent earnings statement or a similar
document, prior to initiation of payment from the Fund.
If a juror is self-employed or receives compensation other
than wages, the juror may provide a sworn affidavit attesting
to his or her approximate gross weekly income, together with
any other information that the administrator may require in
order to verify weekly income.
Documents submitted pursuant to this subsection (h) are not
public records and shall not be disclosed to the general
public.
(i) The following attorneys, persons, cases, claims,
actions, and filings are exempt from payment of the Lengthy
Trial Fund fee:
(1) government attorneys entering appearances in the
course of their official duties;

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(2) pro se litigants;
(3) cases in small claims court; or
(4) claims seeking disability determinations; child
custody and support cases; actions brought in forma
pauperis; and any other filings designated by rule that
involve minimal use of court resources or that customarily
are not afforded the opportunity for a trial by jury.
Section 10. The Jury Act is amended by changing Sections
4.1, 5, 8, 10.2, and 15 and by adding Section 10.5 as follows:
(705 ILCS 305/4.1) (from Ch. 78, par. 4.1)
Sec. 4.1. Jury duty; notice to employer; right to time off.
(a) Any person who is not legally disqualified to serve on
juries, and has been duly summoned for jury duty for either
petit or grand jury service, shall not be required or requested
to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent
responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating
in the jury selection process, or time spent actually serving
on a jury be given time off from employment to serve upon the
jury for which such employee is summoned, regardless of the
employment shift such employee is assigned to at the time of
service of such summons. An employee shall give his employer
reasonable notice of required jury service. An employer may not
deny an employee time off for jury duty because such employee
is then assigned to work a night shift of employment, that is,

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an employer cannot require a night shift worker to work while
such employee is doing jury duty in the daytime.
Nothing in this subsection (a) shall be construed to
require an employer to provide annual, vacation, or sick leave
to employees under this Act who otherwise are not entitled to
such benefits under company policies.
(b) No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge,
intimidate, or otherwise subject or coerce any employee to any
other adverse employment action by reason of the employee's
jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in
connection with such service, in any court of this State.
(c) If an employee gives reasonable notice of required jury
service, any employer who violates the provisions of this
Section:
(1) may be charged with contempt of court. In such an
event, the State's Attorney shall file a petition for civil
contempt, criminal contempt, or both, against the employer
to be prosecuted by the State's Attorney; and
(2) shall be liable for damages for any loss of wages
or other benefits suffered by an employee by reason of the
violation; and
(3) may be enjoined from further violations of this
Section and ordered to reinstate any employee discharged by
reason of jury service.
As used in this Section, "reasonable notice of required
jury service" means that the employee summoned for jury duty

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must deliver to the employer a copy of the summons within 10
days of the date of issuance of the summons to the employee.
(d) Any individual who is reinstated to a position of
employment in accordance with this Section shall be considered
as having been on furlough or leave of absence during his
period of jury service, shall be reinstated to his position of
employment without loss of seniority, and shall be entitled to
participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the
employer under established rules and practices relating to
employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with the
employer at the time the individual entered upon jury service.
(e) In any action or proceeding under this Section, the
court may award a prevailing employee who brings the action by
retained counsel a reasonable attorney's fee.
(f) Any right or remedy provided in this Section is in
addition to any right or remedy otherwise provided by law to an
employee.
(g) No employer shall be obligated to compensate an
employee for time taken off for jury duty.
(g-5) The court shall automatically postpone and
reschedule the service of a summoned juror who is employed by
an employer with 5 or fewer full-time employees, or the
equivalent, if another employee of that employer has been
summoned to appear during the same period. The postponement
under this subsection does not constitute the excused
individual's automatic postponement under Section 10.4 of this

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Act.
(h) The official responsible for issuing the summons may
advise the juror of his rights under this Act by printed insert
with the summons or on the summons itself.
(Source: P.A. 86-1395; 87-616.)
(705 ILCS 305/5) (from Ch. 78, par. 5)
Sec. 5. Subsequent selections; length of service.
(a) At the time of making such selection, the name of the
person selected shall be checked off from such list, and shall
not be again selected as a juror till every person named upon
such list qualified to serve as a juror has been selected; and
all subsequent selections of jurors by such board shall be made
from such list until all persons thereon qualified to serve
have been selected, or until a new list is made: Provided, if
any person who has been selected as a juror shall not have been
drawn, or have served upon a jury during the year for which he
was selected, he shall, if qualified, be selected for the next
year.
(b) In a county with a population greater than 100,000,
service of prospective petit jurors shall be for no more than
one court day in actual attendance, unless a prospective petit
juror is selected to serve in a trial or is under consideration
to serve on a trial and such consideration covers a period of 2
or more days. Once selected, a petit juror shall serve on the
jury for the duration of the trial unless excused by the

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presiding judge.
(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)
(705 ILCS 305/8) (from Ch. 78, par. 8)
Sec. 8. Drawing names of jurors.
(a) Upon a day designated by the judge of the court, which
shall be at least 20 days before the first day for which any of
the panel then to be drawn is summoned, the clerk of such court
shall repair to the office of the county clerk, and in the
presence of a judge and of such county clerk, after the box
containing the names has been well shaken by the county clerk,
and being blindfolded shall, without partiality, draw from such
box the names of a sufficient number of such persons, then
residents of the county, not less than 30 for each 2 weeks that
such court will probably be in session for the trial of common
law cases, to constitute the petit jurors for the time being
and where there is an additional judge in such court, a like
number for each additional judge requiring a jury, unless the
court shall otherwise order: Provided, that the clerk shall at
any time, when directed by an order of the court draw in the
manner above provided, such number of persons then residents of
the county, as shall be required by the order to act as petit
jurors in such court for such time as may be fixed in such
order: And provided, that should the clerk draw from the box
the name of a person who is known to be dead, to have been
selected as a grand juror, a non-resident, absent from the

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State, unable to attend in consequence of illness, or that he
is legally disqualified to serve as a juror, the clerk shall
report the name of such person to the county clerk, and the
clerk of such court shall draw other names until the required
number have been selected: Provided, also that whenever there
is pending for trial in any of the courts, any criminal cause
wherein the defendant is charged with a felony, and the judge
holding such court is convinced from the circumstances of the
case that a jury cannot be obtained from the regular panel to
try the cause, the judge may in his discretion, prior to the
day fixed for the trial of the cause, direct the clerk to draw
(in the same manner as the regular panel is drawn,) not
exceeding 100 names as a special panel from which a jury may be
selected to try the cause.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a),
names of jurors may be randomly drawn by computer.
(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)
(705 ILCS 305/10.2) (from Ch. 78, par. 10.2)
Sec. 10.2. Excusing prospective jurors; hardship.
(a) An individual may apply to be excused from jury service
for a period of up to 24 months, instead of seeking a
postponement, when either:
(1) the prospective juror has a mental or physical
condition that causes him or her to be incapable of
performing jury service. The juror, or the juror's personal

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representative, must provide the court with documentation
from a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its
branches verifying that a mental or physical condition
renders the person unfit for jury service for a period not
less than the 24-month period for which the excuse is
sought; or
(2) jury service would otherwise cause undue or extreme
physical or financial hardship to the prospective juror or
a person under his or her care or supervision. A judge of
the court for which the individual was called to jury
service shall make determinations regarding undue or
extreme physical or financial hardship. The authority to
make these determinations is delegable only to court
officials or personnel who are authorized by the laws of
this State to function as members of the judiciary.
(b) A person asking to be excused from jury service under
this Section must take all actions necessary to have obtained a
ruling on that request by no later than the date on which the
individual is scheduled to appear for jury duty.
(c) For purposes of this Section, "undue or extreme
physical or financial hardship" is limited to circumstances in
which an individual would:
(1) be required to abandon a person under his or her
personal care or supervision due to the impossibility of
obtaining reasonable alternative care during the period of
participation in the jury pool or on the jury; or

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(2) incur costs that would have a substantial adverse
impact on the payment of the individual's necessary daily
living expenses or on those for whom he or she provides the
principle means of support; or
(3) suffer physical hardship that would result in
illness or disease.
Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not
exist solely based on the fact that a prospective juror is
required to be absent from his or her place of employment. A
person asking a judge to grant an excuse based on undue or
extreme physical or financial hardship shall provide the judge
with documentation, such as, but not limited to, federal and
State income tax returns, medical statements from licensed
physicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, and similar
documents which the judge finds to clearly support the request
to be excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation
shall result in a denial of the request to be excused. These
documents are not public records and shall not be disclosed to
the general public.
(d) After 24 months, a person excused from jury service
shall become eligible once again for qualification as a juror
unless the person was excused from service permanently. A
person is excused from jury service permanently only when the
deciding judge determines that the underlying grounds for being
excused are of a permanent nature.
The county boards of the respective counties, the jury

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commissioners for those counties which have been appointed
under the Jury Commission Act, or a jury administrator shall
submit questionnaires to prospective jurors to inquire as to
their qualifications for jury service and as to the hardship
that jury service would pose to the prospective jurors. Upon
prior approval by the chief judge of the judicial circuits in
which a county board, jury administrator, or jury commissioners
are situated, the county board, jury administrator, or jury
commissioners shall excuse a prospective juror from jury
service if the prospective juror shows that such service would
impose an undue hardship on account of the nature of the
prospective juror's occupation, business affairs, physical
health, family situation, active duty in the Illinois National
Guard or Illinois Naval Militia, or other personal affairs, and
cause his or her name to be returned to the jury list or
general jury list.
(b) When an undue hardship caused by a family situation is
due to the prospective juror being the primary care giver of a
person with a mental or physical disability, a person with a
medically diagnosed behavior problem, or a child under age 12,
then the county board, jury commissioners or jury administrator
shall excuse such a prospective juror, if it finds that no
reasonable alternative care is feasible which would not impose
an undue hardship on the prospective juror or the person for
whom the prospective juror is providing care, or both.
(Source: P.A. 90-482, eff. 1-1-98; 91-264, eff. 7-23-99.)

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(705 ILCS 305/10.5 new)
Sec. 10.5. Postponement of jury service.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 10.2 or any other provision of
this Act, an individual scheduled to appear for jury service
has the right to postpone the date of his or her initial
appearance for jury service one time only. When requested, a
postponement shall be granted, provided that:
(1) the juror has not previously been granted a
postponement;
(2) the prospective juror appears in person or contacts
the clerk of the court by telephone, electronic mail, or in
writing to request a postponement; and
(3) prior to the grant of a postponement with the
concurrence of the clerk of the court, the prospective
juror fixes a date certain on which he or she will appear
for jury service that is not more than 6 months after the
date on which the prospective juror originally was called
to serve and on which date the court will be in session.
(b) A subsequent request to postpone jury service may be
approved by a judicial officer only in the event of an extreme
emergency, such as a death in the family, sudden illness, or a
natural disaster or a national emergency in which the
prospective juror is personally involved and that could not
have been anticipated at the time the initial postponement was
granted. Prior to the grant of a second postponement, the

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prospective juror must fix a date certain on which the
individual will appear for jury service within 6 months of the
postponement on a date when the court will be in session.
(705 ILCS 305/15) (from Ch. 78, par. 15)
Sec. 15. Penalties for failure to attend. Every person who
shall fail to attend when lawfully summoned to appear as a
grand or petit juror, without having properly obtained
postponement or excuse pursuant to Sections 10.2 and 10.4 a
reasonable excuse, shall be considered in civil as guilty of a
contempt, and shall be fined by the courts, respectively, in
any sum not less than $5 nor more than $500 $100, for the use of
the proper county, unless good cause be shown for such default;
and it shall be the duty of the court to enter an order of
attachment, returnable forthwith, against all such
delinquents, and upon the return thereof the court shall
proceed to assess the fine unless the person or persons so
attached shall show good cause for such delinquency: Provided,
that the oath or affirmation of any such delinquent shall, at
all times, be received as competent evidence. In addition to,
or in lieu of, the fine, the court may order that the
prospective juror complete a period of community service for a
period no less than if the prospective juror would have
completed jury service, and provide proof of completion of this
community service to the court.
(Source: P.A. 83-346.)

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Section 15. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.855 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.855 new)
Sec. 5.855. The Lengthy Trial Fund.
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".