Registered voters; court clerks receiving notice of non-qualified juror to furnish list to SBE. (SB53)

Introduced By

Sen. Steve Martin (R-Chesterfield)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Registered voters; disqualified jurors; report.  Requires court clerks who receive notice that a juror is no longer qualified to serve as a juror in the locality where he is summoned, due to his no longer being a resident of the locality or of the Commonwealth, to furnish a list of such jurors to the State Board of Elections. The State Board will utilize this information as part of its voter list maintenance program to determine if such jurors should be placed on inactive voter status. Read the Bill »

Status

01/12/2010: Awaiting a Vote in the Courts of Justice Committee

History

DateAction
01/04/2010Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/10 10100891D
01/04/2010Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/12/2010Assigned Courts sub: Civil
01/20/2010Impact statement from DPB (SB53)
01/25/2010Stricken at the request of Patron in Courts of Justice (13-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)

Comments

Martin D Ringhofer writes:

Congratulations on the introduction of Senate Bill No. 53, offered January 13, 2010, and prefiled January 4, 2010

Interestingly, Senator Pam Roach of Washington State has also introduced a similar bill in the Washington State Senate:

SENATE BILL 6527

Summoned for jury service does not meet the qualifications of a juror; and amending RCW 2.36.072.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 2.36.072 and 2009 c 330 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each court shall establish a means to preliminarily determine by a written or electronic declaration signed under penalty of perjury by the person summoned, the qualifications set forth in RCW 2.36.070 of each person summoned for jury duty prior to their appearance at the court to which they are summoned to serve.

(2) An electronic signature may be used in lieu of a written signature.

(3) "Electronic signature" means an electric sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.

(4) Upon receipt by the summoning court of a written declaration stating that a declarant does not meet the qualifications set forth in RCW 2.36.070, that declarant shall be excused from appearing in response to the summons. If a person summoned to appear for jury duty fails to sign and return a declaration of his or her qualifications to serve as a juror prior to appearing in response to a summons and is later determined to be unqualified for one of the reasons set forth in RCW 2.36.070, that person shall not be entitled to any compensation as provided in RCW 2.36.150. Information provided to the court for preliminary determination of statutory qualification for jury duty may only be used for the term such person is summoned and may not be used for any other purpose, except that the court, or designee, may report a change of address or nondelivery of summons of persons summoned for jury duty to the county auditor.

(5) The court shall notify the office of the secretary of state and the appropriate county election official if a declarant does not meet the qualifications set forth in RCW 2.36.070 (1) through (3) and (5).

I write to support SB 53, and inquire the following from anyone who might know, which will prove of great value in helping our legislature approve Senator Pam Roach SB 6527:

1. What prompted the introduction of SB 53? Was it a means to identify voters who are ineligible to register & vote?

2. If yes, have there been any instances demonstrating a problem with persons registered to vote who are not eligible to be voters?

3. Has any research found any other states who have similar provisions as your SB 53 would establish, as part of its voter list maintenance program to determine if such jurors should be placed on inactive voter status?

4. If yes, which states, and what are the provisions if you know?

In Pennsylvania, list of names of all prospective jurors who have been disqualified and the reasons for their disqualification are open for public inspection.

§ 4523. List of disqualified jurors

(a) Maintenance of list.--The jury selection commission shall create and maintain a list of names of all prospective jurors who have been disqualified and the reasons for their disqualification. The list shall be open for public inspection.

5.I am interested in others views supporting or opposing SB 53.

Responses on this site would be very helpful, as we would like to make use of it during our upcoming committee hearing on SB 6527.

Martin D Ringhofer
[email protected]
Soap Lake, WA