1-1     By:  Jones of Dallas (Senate Sponsor - Barrientos)   H.C.R. No. 104
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 2001;
 1-3     April 24, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 8, 2001, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 8, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-7           WHEREAS, While jury service is a civic duty for many
 1-8     Americans, extended jury service can create significant financial
 1-9     hardship on jurors, and for many citizens the honor and privilege
1-10     of serving on a jury becomes instead a burden that not only tends
1-11     to limit participation in jury service but ultimately reduces the
1-12     representativeness of juries in an increasingly diverse society;
1-13     and
1-14           WHEREAS, Under current Texas law, jurors are entitled to
1-15     reimbursement of expenses in an amount not less that $6 nor more
1-16     than $50 for each day of jury service, with the actual amount being
1-17     determined by the county commissioners court; the law also allows a
1-18     presiding judge, under certain circumstances, to increase the daily
1-19     reimbursement above the amount set by the commissioners court
1-20     provided that reimbursement does not exceed the maximum allowable
1-21     amount of $50 per day, with the additional costs in these cases
1-22     being shared equally by the parties involved; and
1-23           WHEREAS, Because jurors' compensation often falls at the
1-24     lower end of this reimbursement schedule, jury duty participation
1-25     may cause undue financial hardships on citizens who incur
1-26     substantial traveling and other daily expenses when responding to a
1-27     jury summons; and
1-28           WHEREAS, Furthermore, because Texas law does not require
1-29     employers to pay employees for the time they take off work to
1-30     perform jury service, the financial hardship falls most heavily on
1-31     hourly wage earners who cannot afford the difference between the $6
1-32     per day compensation and the amount of wages lost; and
1-33           WHEREAS, Consequently, minorities, young adults, and other
1-34     lower-income individuals are significantly underrepresented on many
1-35     Texas juries, which may potentially violate a constitutional
1-36     requirement that juries represent a cross-section of the community;
1-37     and
1-38           WHEREAS, While county commissioners courts may provide for
1-39     juror compensation above the state minimum, courts in poorer
1-40     communities may be hard pressed to do so, and even in those
1-41     communities that do pay above the minimum, the higher compensation
1-42     still does not offset the amount of wages a juror may forgo during
1-43     an extended jury trial; additional incentives are needed to lessen
1-44     or remove jurors' financial burdens and thus ensure greater public
1-45     participation in jury service and safeguard constitutional
1-46     guarantees; now, therefore, be it
1-47           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-48     hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States to
1-49     pass legislation amending the Internal Revenue Code to give each
1-50     person who serves on a jury under certain circumstances or in
1-51     certain localities a $40 tax credit per day of service and to give
1-52     each person who is summoned and appears, but does not serve, a
1-53     one-time $40 tax credit for that day; and, be it further
1-54           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
1-55     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
1-56     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
1-57     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
1-58     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
1-59     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
1-60     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
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