Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2014 by Leach (Relating to reimbursement for jury service.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2014, As Introduced: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2025.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2024
$0
2025
$0
2026
$0
2027
$0
2028
$0
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from Jury Service Fund 328
2024
($2,761,000)
2025
($2,844,000)
2026
($2,930,000)
2027
($3,018,000)
2028
($3,018,000)
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would raise the daily reimbursement rate for jurors from not less than $6 to not less than $20 for the first day when a person is in attendance in court in response to a jury service call. The county would be exclusively responsible for paying the first day of jury service. The bill would raise the daily reimbursement rate after the first day from not less than $40 to not less than $58. The bill would also raise the state's daily reimbursement rate to the county for reimbursement paid for jury service from $34 a day to $52 a day.
Methodology
Costs reflected in the table above are based on the analysis provided by the Comptroller's Office.
The bill would have no state revenue implications but would increase expenditures from the Jury Service Fund No. 328 for reimbursement payments to counties. At the current reimbursement rate of $34 a day, total payments to counties equaled $5,216,161 for fiscal 2022. This analysis assumes a linear increase as the reimbursement cost to counties increases from $34 to $52 per day. Fiscal 2025 and subsequent years reflect an annual reimbursement cost increase of 3 percent.
Local Government Impact
Based on expenditures from March 2022 through February 2023, the Office of Court Administration (OCA) estimates that 173,951 reimbursements were paid to the counties for jury service on day two of the jury trial ($5,914,320 divided by $34 = 173,951). OCA anticipates, at a minimum that the counties would expend $1,043,704 for this same population serving on day one of a jury trial (173,951 x $6 = $1,043,704). Raising the first day juror compensation from $6 to $20 would, at a minimum, result in an additional local cost of $2,435,308 (173,951 x $20 = $3,479,012. $3,479,012 - $1,043,704 = $2,435,308). OCA assumes that the one-day jury trials and those summoned but not selected could be as much as six times the number of two-day or multiple day jury trials, which would significantly impact the local costs.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts