S.B. No. 451
AN ACT
relating to the qualifications for service as a grand or petit juror
and challenges for cause.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 19.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.06. SHALL SELECT GRAND JURORS. The jury
commissioners shall select not less than 15 nor more than 40 persons
from the citizens of the county to be summoned as grand jurors for
the next term of court, or the term of court for which said
commissioners were selected to serve, as directed in the order of
the court selecting the commissioners. The commissioners shall, to
the extent possible, select grand jurors who the commissioners
determine represent a broad cross-section of the population of the
county, considering the factors of race, sex, and age. A
commissioner is not qualified to be selected for or to serve as a
grand juror during the term of court for which the commissioner is
serving as a commissioner.
SECTION 2. Article 19.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 19.08. QUALIFICATIONS. No person shall be selected or
serve as a grand juror who does not possess the following
qualifications:
1. The person [He] must be a citizen of the state, and
of the county in which the person [he] is to serve, and be qualified
under the Constitution and laws to vote in said county, provided
that the person's [his] failure to register to vote shall not be
held to disqualify the person [him] in this instance;
2. The person [He] must be of sound mind and good moral
character;
3. The person [He] must be able to read and write;
4. The person [He] must not have been convicted of
misdemeanor theft or a [of any] felony;
5. The person [He] must not be under indictment or
other legal accusation for misdemeanor theft or a [of any] felony;
6. The person [He] must not be related within the third
degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity, as determined
under Chapter 573, Government Code, to any person selected to serve
or serving on the same grand jury;
7. The person [He] must not have served as grand juror
or jury commissioner in the year before the date on which the term
of court for which the person [he] has been selected as grand juror
begins;
8. The person [He] must not be a complainant in any
matter to be heard by the grand jury during the term of court for
which the person [he] has been selected as a grand juror.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Article 35.16, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A challenge for cause is an objection made to a
particular juror, alleging some fact which renders the juror [him]
incapable or unfit to serve on the jury. A challenge for cause may
be made by either the state or the defense for any one of the
following reasons:
1. That the juror [he] is not a qualified voter in the
state and county under the Constitution and laws of the state;
provided, however, the failure to register to vote shall not be a
disqualification;
2. That the juror [he] has been convicted of
misdemeanor theft or a [any] felony;
3. That the juror [he] is under indictment or other
legal accusation for misdemeanor theft or a [any] felony;
4. That the juror [he] is insane;
5. That the juror [he] has such defect in the organs of
feeling or hearing, or such bodily or mental defect or disease as to
render the juror [him] unfit for jury service, or that the juror
[he] is legally blind and the court in its discretion is not
satisfied that the juror [he] is fit for jury service in that
particular case;
6. That the juror [he] is a witness in the case;
7. That the juror [he] served on the grand jury which
found the indictment;
8. That the juror [he] served on a petit jury in a
former trial of the same case;
9. That the juror [he] has a bias or prejudice in favor
of or against the defendant;
10. That from hearsay, or otherwise, there is
established in the mind of the juror such a conclusion as to the
guilt or innocence of the defendant as would influence the juror
[him in his action] in finding a verdict. To ascertain whether this
cause of challenge exists, the juror shall first be asked whether,
in the juror's [his] opinion, the conclusion so established will
influence the juror's [his] verdict. If the juror [he] answers in
the affirmative, the juror [he] shall be discharged without further
interrogation by either party or the court. If the juror [he]
answers in the negative, the juror [he] shall be further examined as
to how the juror's [his] conclusion was formed, and the extent to
which it will affect the juror's [his] action; and, if it appears to
have been formed from reading newspaper accounts, communications,
statements or reports or mere rumor or hearsay, and if the juror
states that the juror [he] feels able, notwithstanding such
opinion, to render an impartial verdict upon the law and the
evidence, the court, if satisfied that the juror [he] is impartial
and will render such verdict, may, in its discretion, admit the
juror [him] as competent to serve in such case. If the court, in its
discretion, is not satisfied that the juror [he] is impartial, the
juror shall be discharged;
11. That the juror [he] cannot read or write.
No juror shall be impaneled when it appears that the juror
[he] is subject to the second, third or fourth grounds of challenge
for cause set forth above, although both parties may consent. All
other grounds for challenge may be waived by the party or parties in
whose favor such grounds of challenge exist.
In this subsection "legally blind" shall mean having not more
than 20/200 of visual acuity in the better eye with correcting
lenses, or visual acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation
in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual
field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.
SECTION 4. Section 62.102, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 62.102. GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR JURY SERVICE. A
person is disqualified to serve as a petit juror unless the person
[he]:
(1) is at least 18 years of age;
(2) is a citizen of this state and of the county in
which the person [he] is to serve as a juror;
(3) is qualified under the constitution and laws to
vote in the county in which the person [he] is to serve as a juror;
(4) is of sound mind and good moral character;
(5) is able to read and write;
(6) has not served as a petit juror for six days during
the preceding three months in the county court or during the
preceding six months in the district court;
(7) has not been convicted of misdemeanor theft or a
felony; and
(8) is not under indictment or other legal accusation
for [of] misdemeanor [or felony] theft or a [any other] felony.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
qualifications for jury service for a person required to appear for
jury service by a summons made on or after September 1, 2005. The
qualifications of a person required to appear for jury service
before September 1, 2005, are covered by the law in effect on the
date the summons is made, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 451 passed the Senate on
March 31, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 451 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 25, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor