Excusing certain persons from jury service. (FE)

Under the bill, the clerk must send a notice along with the juror qualification form that 1) informs the prospective juror that he or she may elect to be excused from jury service if the prospective juror is at least 70 years of age and, 2) if the prospective juror is at least 70 years of age, provides the prospective juror with the option to elect to be excused from jury service for the following year or to be excused from all future jury service.

Under the bill, the clerk must strike the name of any prospective juror who elects to be excused from the list of prospective jurors in the county who are qualified as eligible to serve as jurors for the following year. For any prospective juror who elects to be excused from all future jury service, the bill requires the clerk to notify the director of state courts of the prospective juror's election, and the director of state courts must exclude the person from the statewide master list of potential jurors the director of state court compiles in future years. Under the bill, a prospective juror may revoke his or her election by notifying the director of state courts of the revocation.

Also under current law, a court may excuse a person from jury service if the court determines that the person cannot fulfill the responsibilities of a juror. The bill allows a court to also excuse a person from jury service if the person is at least 70 years of age and requests excusal.