1-1     By:  Ellis                                             S.B. No. 230
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 22, 1999; January 28, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     March 11, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; March 11, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 230                    By:  Ellis
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to a uniform written jury summons.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Government Code, is
1-13     amended by adding Sections 62.0131 and 62.0132 to read as follows:
1-14           Sec. 62.0131.  FORM OF WRITTEN JURY SUMMONS.  (a)  The Office
1-15     of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall develop
1-16     and maintain a model for a uniform written jury summons in this
1-17     state.
1-18           (b)  The model must include the exemptions and restrictions
1-19     governing jury service under Subchapter B.
1-20           (c)  A written jury summons must conform with the model
1-21     established under this section.
1-22           (d)  In developing and maintaining the model required by this
1-23     section, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
1-24     System shall solicit and consider the opinions of the members of
1-25     the judiciary, district clerks, and attorneys.
1-26           Sec. 62.0132.  WRITTEN JURY SUMMONS QUESTIONNAIRE.  (a)  The
1-27     Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall
1-28     develop and maintain a questionnaire to accompany a written jury
1-29     summons.
1-30           (b)  A written jury summons must include a copy of the
1-31     questionnaire developed under this section.
1-32           (c)  The questionnaire must require a person to provide
1-33     biographical and demographic information that is relevant to
1-34     service as a jury member, including the person's:
1-35                 (1)  name, sex, race, and age;
1-36                 (2)  residence address and mailing address;
1-37                 (3)  education level, occupation, and place of
1-38     employment;
1-39                 (4)  marital status and the name, occupation, and place
1-40     of employment of the person's spouse; and
1-41                 (5)  citizenship status and county of residence.
1-42           (d)  A person who has received a written jury summons and a
1-43     written jury summons questionnaire shall complete and submit the
1-44     questionnaire when the person reports for jury duty.
1-45           (e)  In developing and maintaining the questionnaire required
1-46     by this section, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
1-47     Judicial System shall solicit and consider the opinions of the
1-48     members of the judiciary, district clerks, and attorneys.
1-49           (f)  Except as provided by Subsection (g), information
1-50     contained in a completed questionnaire is confidential and is not
1-51     subject to Chapter 552.
1-52           (g)  The information contained in a completed questionnaire
1-53     may be disclosed to:
1-54                 (1)  a judge assigned to hear a cause of action in
1-55     which the respondent to the questionnaire is a potential juror;
1-56                 (2)  court personnel; and
1-57                 (3)  a litigant and a litigant's attorney in a cause of
1-58     action in which the respondent to the questionnaire is a potential
1-59     juror.
1-60           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-61           (b)  The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
1-62     System shall complete the model for the summons and the
1-63     questionnaire required by this Act not later than October 1, 2000,
1-64     and shall distribute the model and the questionnaire to each county
 2-1     not later than November 1, 2000.
 2-2           (c)  A county shall conform its written jury summons to the
 2-3     model developed under this Act not later than January 1, 2001.  A
 2-4     county shall include the questionnaire developed under this Act
 2-5     with its written jury summons not later than January 1, 2001.
 2-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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