By Crabb H.B. No. 2230
76R5447 DB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a uniform jury summons.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Government Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Sections 62.0131 and 62.0132 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 62.0131. FORM OF WRITTEN JURY SUMMONS. (a) The office
1-7 of court administration shall develop and maintain a model for a
1-8 uniform written jury summons in this state.
1-9 (b) The model must include the exemptions and restrictions
1-10 governing jury service under Subchapter B.
1-11 (c) A written jury summons must conform with the model
1-12 established under this section.
1-13 (d) In developing and maintaining the model required by this
1-14 section, the office of court administration shall solicit and
1-15 consider the opinions of the members of the judiciary, district
1-16 clerks, and attorneys.
1-17 Sec. 62.0132. WRITTEN JURY SUMMONS QUESTIONNAIRE. (a) The
1-18 office of court administration shall develop and maintain a
1-19 questionnaire to accompany a written jury summons.
1-20 (b) A written jury summons must include a copy of the
1-21 questionnaire developed under this section.
1-22 (c) The questionnaire must require a person to provide
1-23 biographical and demographic information that is relevant to
1-24 service as a jury member, including:
2-1 (1) the person's:
2-2 (A) name, sex, race, and age;
2-3 (B) residence address and mailing address;
2-4 (C) education level, occupation, and place of
2-5 employment;
2-6 (D) marital status, and the name, occupation,
2-7 and place of employment of the person's spouse;
2-8 (E) citizenship status and county of residence;
2-9 and
2-10 (F) level of proficiency in reading, speaking,
2-11 and understanding the English language;
2-12 (2) whether the person needs an accommodation for a
2-13 physical or mental disability to allow the person to serve on a
2-14 jury; and
2-15 (3) whether the person has been convicted of perjury.
2-16 (d) A person who has received a written jury summons and a
2-17 written jury summons questionnaire shall complete and submit the
2-18 questionnaire when the person reports for jury duty.
2-19 (e) In developing and maintaining the questionnaire required
2-20 by this section, the office of court administration shall solicit
2-21 and consider the opinions of the members of the judiciary, district
2-22 clerks, and attorneys.
2-23 (f) Except as provided by Subsection (g), information
2-24 contained in a completed questionnaire is confidential and is not
2-25 subject to Chapter 552. Information contained in a completed
2-26 questionnaire is not a judicial record for purposes of the Rules of
2-27 Judicial Administration.
3-1 (g) The information contained in a completed questionnaire
3-2 may be disclosed to:
3-3 (1) a judge assigned to hear a cause of action in
3-4 which the respondent to the questionnaire is a potential juror;
3-5 (2) court personnel; and
3-6 (3) a litigant and a litigant's attorney in a cause of
3-7 action in which the respondent to the questionnaire is a potential
3-8 juror.
3-9 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-10 (b) The office of court administration shall complete the
3-11 model for the summons and the questionnaire required by Sections
3-12 62.0131 and 62.0132, Government Code, as added by this Act, not
3-13 later than October 1, 2000, and shall distribute the model and the
3-14 questionnaire to each county not later than November 1, 2000.
3-15 (c) A county shall conform its written jury summons to the
3-16 model developed under Section 62.0131, Government Code, as added by
3-17 this Act, not later than January 1, 2001. A county shall include
3-18 the questionnaire developed under Section 62.0132, Government Code,
3-19 as added by this Act, with its written jury summons not later than
3-20 January 1, 2001.
3-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.