PMWJ C.S.S.B. 231 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS S.B. 231 By: Carona et al. (Thompson/Tillery) C.S.S.B. 231 By: Thompson 5-5-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Currently, Texas law does not prohibit the inclusion of the name of the convicted felon in a jury wheel. Current law also does not prohibit the inclusion of the name of a person whose legal residence is outside of the county. In addition, it is arguable that current law regarding disqualification only applies to a citizen who holds a valid identification card or certificate, and not a driver's license holder. This bill prohibits the constitution of a jury wheel with a name of an out-ofcounty resident or convicted felon. This requires counties to call far more potential jurors than would ordinarily be necessary in order to have enough potential jurors for jury trials. PURPOSE This bill requires, for the reconstitution of the jury wheel, that the list exclude persons disqualified from jury service under Government Code Secs. 62.102(1), (2), or (7); modifications in language ensure that these provisions apply to driver's license holders and holders of state identification cards issued by the Department of Public Safety. The bill also requires the Department of Public Safety to exclude the names of convicted felons and persons residing outside the county from the list provided to the secretary of state for use in developing a jury wheel list. Finally, this bill authorizes the voter registrar to exclude from the jury wheel persons whose names appear on the suspense list. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends Sections 62.001(a), (d) and (f), Government Code. Subsec. (a) is amended by adding a new Subsection (a)(2)(B) to require that persons disqualified from jury service under Sections 62.102(1), (2), or (7) be excluded from the list of county citizens who hold a driver's license or identification card. Subdivision (a)(2) is amended to make conforming changes. Subsec. (d) authorizes the voter registrar to exclude the names of persons on the suspense list. Subsec. (f) requires the Department of Public Safety to exclude convicted felons and persons residing outside the county from lists furnished for use in constituting a jury wheel. DPS is further required to list the county of residence on the list provided to the secretary of state. SECTION 2. Effective date. Application of act. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE Government Code Sections 62.001(a) and (f) in Section 1 are the same in both the original bill and the substitute. Section 1 of the substitute amends Government Code Section 62.001(d) to allow the voter registrar to exclude the names of persons on the suspense list; this did not appear in the original bill. Section 2 of the substitute adds "or a voter registrar" after "lists furnished by the Department of Public Safety" in the application of the act provisions. This was not in the substitute. Section 3 is the same in both versions of the bill.