HB6275 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 17156 AJO 32487 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB6275

Introduced 2/11/2010, by Rep. Sidney H. Mathias

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

55 ILCS 5/4-11001	from Ch. 34, par. 4-11001
705 ILCS 305/4.1	from Ch. 78, par. 4.1
705 ILCS 305/5	from Ch. 78, par. 5
705 ILCS 305/8	from Ch. 78, par. 8
705 ILCS 305/10.2	from Ch. 78, par. 10.2
705 ILCS 305/10.4 new
705 ILCS 305/15	from Ch. 78, par. 15
30 ILCS 805/8.34 new

Amends the Counties Code. Provides that the clerk of the court shall collect a juror fund fee from each plaintiff and defendant, except as otherwise specified, and that the fees shall be deposited into a County Juror Fund. Increases fees for jury service after a juror fund fee is imposed. Preempts home rule powers. Amends the Jury Act. Provides that a person summoned for jury service is not required to use specified types of leave time. Contains provisions regarding: postponement and rescheduling the service of certain jurors; limits on the service of certain jurors; circumstances under which an individual may apply to be excused from jury service; penalties for failure to attend as a juror; and other matters. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Contains severability provisions. Effective immediately.

CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY	FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY	HOME RULE NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
	STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning juries.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section 4-11001 as follows:

(55 ILCS 5/4-11001) (from Ch. 34, par. 4-11001)

Sec. 4-11001. Juror fees. Each county shall pay to grand and petit jurors for their services in attending courts the sum of $4 until a juror fund fee is imposed and $25 thereafter for each day of necessary attendance at such courts as jurors in counties of the first class, the sum of $5 until a juror fund fee is imposed and $30 thereafter for each day in counties of the second class, and the sum of $10 until a juror fund fee is imposed and $40 thereafter for each day in counties of the third class, or such higher amount as may be fixed by the county board.

In addition, jurors shall receive such travel expense as may be determined by the county board, provided that jurors in counties of the first class and second class shall receive at least 10 cents per mile for their travel expense. Mileage shall be allowed for travel during a juror's term as well as for travel at the opening and closing of his term.

If a judge so orders, a juror shall also receive reimbursement for the actual cost of day care incurred by the juror during his or her service on a jury.

The juror fees for service, transportation, and day care shall be paid out of the county treasury until a juror fund fee is imposed and out of the County Juror Fund thereafter.

For the purposes of funding juror fees, the clerk of the court shall collect a juror fund fee, as fixed by the county board, from each plaintiff and defendant in an action. Within 180 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the county board must conduct an acceptable cost study and set and impose an initial juror fund fee justified by that cost study as sufficient to pay the increased amount of the juror fees as provided in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly. The county board may thereafter adjust the amount of the juror fund fee, but any increase must be justified by an acceptable cost study showing that the then current fee is not sufficient to cover the costs of juror fees.

The clerk shall deposit all of the juror fund fees collected into a special county fund, the County Juror Fund, which shall be used solely for the purpose of funding juror fees in accordance with this Section. Within 10 business days after the juror fund fee is initially imposed, and each month thereafter, the county treasurer must transfer one-twelfth of the base amount from the county treasury into the Fund. The "base amount" is the total amount of all juror fees paid from the county treasury during the 12-month period immediately preceding the month in which the juror fund fee is initially imposed. All moneys in the Fund and all income earned on those moneys shall remain in the Fund and shall be available for appropriation by the county board from fiscal year to fiscal year for the purposes provided in this Section.

The following parties are exempt from payment of juror fund fees:

(i) governmental entities;

(ii) pro se litigants;

(iii) parties to small claims actions;

(iv) parties seeking veterans' benefits or compensation for a veteran or for a veteran's family member or designee;

(v) parties to recoupment actions for government-backed educational loans or mortgages;

(vi) parties to child custody or child support cases;

(vii) parties to actions under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986;

(viii) parties granted leave to commence and prosecute or to defend an action as a poor person without the payment of costs and expenses; and

(ix) parties to any other filings designated by Supreme Court Rule that involve minimal use of court resources and that are not customarily afforded the opportunity for a trial by jury.

In a class action, the court shall determine the amount of the fee, if any, to be charged to each plaintiff and defendant as equity requires.

The clerk of the court shall furnish to each juror without fee whenever the juror he is discharged a certificate of the number of days' attendance at court, and upon presentation thereof to the county treasurer, the county treasurer he shall pay to the juror the sum provided for the juror's his service.

All counties, including home rule units, must comply with the requirements of this Section. Juror fees may not be set, administered, or paid in a manner inconsistent with this Section. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State.

(Source: P.A. 91-321, eff. 1-1-00.)

Section 10. The Jury Act is amended by changing Sections 4.1, 5, 8, 10.2, and 15 and adding Section 10.4 as follows:

(705 ILCS 305/4.1) (from Ch. 78, par. 4.1)

Sec. 4.1. Jury duty; notice to employer; right to time off.

(a) Any person who is not legally disqualified to serve on juries, and has been duly summoned for jury duty for either petit or grand jury service, shall not be required or requested to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process, or time spent actually serving on a jury be given time off from employment to serve upon the jury for which such employee is summoned, regardless of the employment shift such employee is assigned to at the time of service of such summons. An employee shall give his employer reasonable notice of required jury service. An employer may not deny an employee time off for jury duty because such employee is then assigned to work a night shift of employment, that is, an employer cannot require a night shift worker to work while such employee is doing jury duty in the daytime. Nothing in this subsection (a) shall be construed to require an employer to provide annual, vacation, or sick leave to employees under the provisions of this Section who otherwise are not entitled to such benefits under company policies.

(b) No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate or coerce any employee by reason of the employee's jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in connection with such service, in any court of this State.

(c) If an employee gives reasonable notice of required jury service, any employer who violates the provisions of this Section:

(1) may be charged with contempt of court. In such an event, the State's Attorney shall file a petition for civil contempt, criminal contempt, or both, against the employer to be prosecuted by the State's Attorney; and

(2) shall be liable for damages for any loss of wages or other benefits suffered by an employee by reason of the violation; and

(3) may be enjoined from further violations of this Section and ordered to reinstate any employee discharged by reason of jury service.

As used in this Section, "reasonable notice of required jury service" means that the employee summoned for jury duty must deliver to the employer a copy of the summons within 10 days of the date of issuance of the summons to the employee.

(d) Any individual who is reinstated to a position of employment in accordance with this Section shall be considered as having been on furlough or leave of absence during his period of jury service, shall be reinstated to his position of employment without loss of seniority, and shall be entitled to participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the employer under established rules and practices relating to employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with the employer at the time the individual entered upon jury service.

(e) In any action or proceeding under this Section, the court may award a prevailing employee who brings the action by retained counsel a reasonable attorney's fee.

(f) Any right or remedy provided in this Section is in addition to any right or remedy otherwise provided by law to an employee.

(g) No employer shall be obligated to compensate an employee for time taken off for jury duty.

(g-5) A court shall automatically postpone and reschedule the service of a summoned juror employed by an employer with 5 or fewer full-time employees, or the equivalent, if another employee of that employer is summoned to appear during the same period. The postponement will not constitute the excused individual's right to one automatic postponement pursuant to Section 10.4 of this Act.

(h) The official responsible for issuing the summons may advise the juror of his rights under this Act by printed insert with the summons or on the summons itself.

(Source: P.A. 86-1395; 87-616.)

(705 ILCS 305/5) (from Ch. 78, par. 5)

Sec. 5. Subsequent selection of jurors; length of service.

(a) At the time of making such selection, the name of the person selected shall be checked off from such list, and shall not be again selected as a juror till every person named upon such list qualified to serve as a juror has been selected; and all subsequent selections of jurors by such board shall be made from such list until all persons thereon qualified to serve have been selected, or until a new list is made: Provided, if any person who has been selected as a juror shall not have been drawn, or have served upon a jury during the year for which he was selected, he shall, if qualified, be selected for the next year.

(b) In counties with populations greater than 100,000, service of prospective petit jurors shall be for no more than one court day in actual attendance, unless a prospective petit juror is selected to serve on a jury or is under consideration to serve on a jury and such consideration covers a period of 2 or more days. Once selected, a petit juror shall serve on the jury for the duration of the trial unless excused by the presiding judge.

(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)

(705 ILCS 305/8) (from Ch. 78, par. 8)

Sec. 8. Selection from box.

(a) Upon a day designated by the judge of the court, which shall be at least 20 days before the first day for which any of the panel then to be drawn is summoned, the clerk of such court shall repair to the office of the county clerk, and in the presence of a judge and of such county clerk, after the box containing the names has been well shaken by the county clerk, and being blindfolded shall, without partiality, draw from such box the names of a sufficient number of such persons, then residents of the county, not less than 30 for each 2 weeks that such court will probably be in session for the trial of common law cases, to constitute the petit jurors for the time being and where there is an additional judge in such court, a like number for each additional judge requiring a jury, unless the court shall otherwise order: Provided, that the clerk shall at any time, when directed by an order of the court draw in the manner above provided, such number of persons then residents of the county, as shall be required by the order to act as petit jurors in such court for such time as may be fixed in such order: And provided, that should the clerk draw from the box the name of a person who is known to be dead, to have been selected as a grand juror, a non-resident, absent from the State, unable to attend in consequence of illness, or that he is legally disqualified to serve as a juror, the clerk shall report the name of such person to the county clerk, and the clerk of such court shall draw other names until the required number have been selected: Provided, also that whenever there is pending for trial in any of the courts, any criminal cause wherein the defendant is charged with a felony, and the judge holding such court is convinced from the circumstances of the case that a jury cannot be obtained from the regular panel to try the cause, the judge may in his discretion, prior to the day fixed for the trial of the cause, direct the clerk to draw (in the same manner as the regular panel is drawn,) not exceeding 100 names as a special panel from which a jury may be selected to try the cause.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), names of jurors may be randomly drawn by computer.

(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)

(705 ILCS 305/10.2) (from Ch. 78, par. 10.2)

Sec. 10.2. Excusing prospective jurors; hardship.

(a) An individual may apply to be excused from jury service for a period of up to 24 months, instead of seeking a postponement, when either: The county boards of the respective counties, the jury commissioners for those counties which have been appointed under the Jury Commission Act, or a jury administrator shall submit questionnaires to prospective jurors to inquire as to their qualifications for jury service and as to the hardship that jury service would pose to the prospective jurors. Upon prior approval by the chief judge of the judicial circuits in which a county board, jury administrator, or jury commissioners are situated, the county board, jury administrator, or jury commissioners shall excuse a prospective juror from jury service if the prospective juror shows that such service would impose an undue hardship on account of the nature of the prospective juror's occupation, business affairs, physical health, family situation, active duty in the Illinois National Guard or Illinois Naval Militia, or other personal affairs, and cause his or her name to be returned to the jury list or general jury list.

(1) The prospective juror has a mental or physical condition that causes him or her to be incapable of performing jury service. The juror, or the juror's personal representative, must provide the court with documentation from a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches verifying that a mental or physical condition renders the person unfit for jury service for a period of not less than the 24 month period for which the excuse is sought; or

(2) Jury service would otherwise cause undue or extreme physical or financial hardship to the prospective juror or a person under his or her care or supervision. A judge of the court for which the individual was called to jury service shall make determinations regarding undue or extreme physical or financial hardship. The authority to make these determinations is delegable only to court officials or personnel who are authorized by the laws of this State to function as members of the judiciary.

(b) A person asking to be excused from jury service under this Section must take all actions necessary to have obtained a ruling on that request by no later than the date on which the individual is scheduled to appear for jury duty.

(c) For purposes of this Section, "undue or extreme physical or financial hardship" is limited to circumstances in which an individual would:

(1) Be required to abandon a person under his or her personal care or supervision due to the impossibility of obtaining an appropriate substitute caregiver during the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury; or

(2) Incur costs that would have a substantial adverse impact on the payment of the individual's necessary daily living expenses or on those for whom he or she provides the principal means of support; or

(3) Suffer physical hardship that would result in illness or disease.

"Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship" does not exist solely based on the fact that a prospective juror will be required to be absent from his or her place of employment.

A person asking a judge to grant an excuse based on "undue or extreme physical or financial hardship" shall be required to provide the judge with documentation, such as, but not limited to, federal and State income tax returns, medical statements from licensed physicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, and similar documents, which the judge finds to clearly support the request to be excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation shall result in a denial of the request to be excused.

(d) After 24 months, a person excused from jury service shall become eligible once again for qualification as a juror unless the person was excused from service permanently. A person is excused from jury service permanently only when the judge determines that the underlying grounds for being excused are of a permanent nature.

(e) (b) When an undue hardship caused by a family situation is due to the prospective juror being the primary care giver of a person with a mental or physical disability, a person with a medically diagnosed behavior problem, or a child under age 12, then the county board, jury commissioners or jury administrator shall excuse such a prospective juror, if it finds that no reasonable alternative care is feasible which would not impose an undue hardship on the prospective juror or the person for whom the prospective juror is providing care, or both.

(Source: P.A. 90-482, eff. 1-1-98; 91-264, eff. 7-23-99.)

(705 ILCS 305/10.4 new)

Sec. 10.4. Postponement of jury service.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 10.2 or any other provision of this Act, individuals scheduled to appear for jury service have the right to postpone the date of their initial appearance for jury service one time only. When requested, postponements shall be granted, provided that:

(1) The juror has not previously been granted a postponement;

(2) The prospective juror appears in person or contacts the clerk of the court by telephone, electronic mail, or in writing to request a postponement; and

(3) Prior to the grant of a postponement with the concurrence of the clerk of the court, the prospective juror fixes a date certain on which he or she will appear for jury service that is not more than 6 months after the date on which the prospective juror originally was called to serve and on which date the court will be in session.

(b) A subsequent request to postpone jury service may be approved by a judicial officer only in the event of an extreme emergency, such as a death in the family, sudden illness, a natural disaster or a national emergency in which the prospective juror is personally involved, that could not have been anticipated at the time the initial postponement was granted. Prior to the grant of a second postponement, the prospective juror must fix a date certain on which the individual will appear for jury service within 6 months of the postponement on a date when the court will be in session.

(705 ILCS 305/15) (from Ch. 78, par. 15)

Sec. 15. Failure to attend; misdemeanor. Every person who shall fail to attend when lawfully summoned to appear as a grand or petit juror, without having properly obtained postponement or excuse pursuant to Sections 10.2 and 10.4 a reasonable excuse, shall be considered as is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and subject to imprisonment or fine of up to $500 in accordance with the laws of this State contempt, and shall be fined by the courts, respectively, in any sum not less than $5 nor more than $100, for the use of the proper county, unless good cause be shown for such default; and it shall be the duty of the court to enter an order of attachment, returnable forthwith, against all such delinquents, and upon the return thereof the court shall proceed to assess the fine unless the person or persons so attached shall show good cause for such delinquency: Provided, that the oath or affirmation of any such delinquent shall, at all times, be received as competent evidence.

(Source: P.A. 83-346.)

Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding Section 8.34 as follows:

(30 ILCS 805/8.34 new)

Sec. 8.34. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly.

Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes. If any portion of this Act is declared unconstitutional or the application of any part of this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remaining portions of the Act and their applicability to any person or circumstance shall remain valid and enforceable.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.