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. 1-61 * * * * *