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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6548
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE JURY
SELECTION TASK FORCE .
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 51-217 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 2
(a) All jurors shall be electors, individuals lawfully admitted for 3
permanent residence, as defined in 8 USC 1101(a)(20), as amended from 4
time to time, or citizens of the United States, who are residents of this 5
state having a permanent place of abode in this state and appear on the 6
list compiled by the Jury Administrator under subsection (b) of section 7
51-222a, who have reached the age of eighteen. A person shall be 8
disqualified to serve as a juror if such person: (1) Is found by a judge of 9
the Superior Court to exhibit any quality which will impair the capacity 10
of such person to serve as a juror, except that no person shall be 11
disqualified because the person is deaf or hard of hearing; (2) [has been 12
convicted of a felony within the past seven years or is a defendant in a 13
pending felony case or is in the custody of the Commissioner of 14
Correction] is in the physical custody of the Commissioner of Correction 15
within a correctional facility or other similar facility; (3) is not able to 16
speak and understand the English language; (4) is the Governor, 17
Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller or 18 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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Attorney General; (5) is a judge of the Probate Court, Superior Court, 19
Appellate Court or Supreme Court, is a family support magistrate or is 20
a federal court judge; (6) is a member of the General Assembly, provided 21
such disqualification shall apply only while the General Assembly is in 22
session; (7) is a registrar of voters or deputy registrar of voters of a 23
municipality, provided such disqualification shall apply only during the 24
period from twenty-one days before the date of a federal, state or 25
municipal election, primary or referendum to twenty-one days after the 26
date of such election, primary or referendum, inclusive; (8) is [seventy] 27
seventy-five years of age or older and chooses not to perform juror 28
service; (9) is incapable, by reason of a physical or mental disability, of 29
rendering satisfactory juror service; or (10) for the jury year commencing 30
on September 1, 2017, and each jury year thereafter, has served in the 31
United States District Court for the District of Connecticut as (A) a 32
federal juror on a matter that has been tried to a jury during the last three 33
preceding jury years, or (B) a federal grand juror during the last three 34
preceding jury years. Any person claiming a disqualification under 35
subdivision (9) of this subsection shall submit to the Jury Administrator 36
a letter from a licensed health care provider stating the health care 37
provider's opinion that such disability prevents the person from 38
rendering satisfactory juror service. In reaching such opinion, the health 39
care provider shall apply the following guideline: A person shall be 40
capable of rendering satisfactory juror service if such person is able to 41
perform a sedentary job requiring close attention for six hours per day, 42
with short work breaks in the morning and afternoon sessions, for at 43
least three consecutive business days. Any person claiming a 44
disqualification under subdivision (10) of this subsection shall supply 45
proof of federal jury service satisfactory to the Jury Administrator. 46
(b) The Jury Administrator may determine, in such manner and at 47
such times as the Jury Administrator deems feasible, whether any 48
person is qualified to serve as juror under this section and whether any 49
person may be excused for extreme hardship. 50
(c) The Jury Administrator shall have the authority to establish and 51 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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maintain a list of persons to be excluded from the summoning process, 52
which shall consist of (1) persons who are disqualified from serving on 53
jury duty on a permanent basis due to a disability for which a licensed 54
physician or an advanced practice registered nurse has submitted a 55
letter stating the physician's or advanced practice registered nurse's 56
opinion that such disability permanently prevents the person from 57
rendering satisfactory jury service, (2) persons [seventy] seventy-five 58
years of age or older who have requested not to be summoned, (3) 59
elected officials enumerated in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this 60
section and judges enumerated in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of 61
this section during their term of office, and (4) persons excused from 62
jury service pursuant to section 51-217a who have not requested to be 63
summoned for jury service pursuant to said section. Persons requesting 64
to be excluded pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection 65
must provide the Jury Administrator with their names, addresses, dates 66
of birth and federal Social Security numbers for use in matching. The 67
request to be excluded may be rescinded at any time with written notice 68
to the Jury Administrator. 69
Sec. 2. Section 51-220 of the general statutes is repealed and the 70
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 71
(a) The number of jurors to be chosen from each town shall be equal 72
to a percentage of the town's population rounded off to the nearest 73
whole number, such percentage to be determined by the Jury 74
Administrator [. Such population figures shall derive from the last 75
published census of the United States government.] in accordance with 76
the provisions of this section and section 51-220a, as amended by this 77
act. The number of jurors chosen from each town shall reflect the 78
proportional representation of the population of each town within the 79
judicial district. The Jury Administrator shall calculate such percentage 80
by determining each town's proportional share of the population of the 81
judicial district and dividing that proportional share by the town's yield 82
ratio. A town's yield ratio shall be calculated by dividing the number of 83
jurors from such town who, when summoned during the previous 84 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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calendar year, complied with the summons to appear for jury service, 85
by the product that results when the town's proportional share of the 86
population of the judicial district is multiplied by the total number of 87
jurors summoned in the judicial district in the previous calendar year. 88
(b) The Jury Administrator shall derive population figures from the 89
most recent decennial census. 90
Sec. 3. Section 51-220a of the general statutes is repealed and the 91
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 92
(a) Electronic data processing and similar equipment may be used in 93
the selection, drawing and summoning of jurors under this chapter. At 94
[his] the Jury Administrator's election, the Jury Administrator may enter 95
into a computerized data processing file the names of persons appearing 96
on the list compiled under subsection (b) of section 51-222a, in order to 97
perform any of the duties prescribed in this chapter. 98
(b) In carrying out the duties prescribed in section 51-220, as 99
amended by this act, the Jury Administrator annually shall compile the 100
number of jurors summoned from each town who complied with the 101
summons and appeared for jury service. 102
Sec. 4. Section 51-232 of the general statutes is repealed and the 103
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 104
(a) The Jury Administrator shall send to each juror drawn, by first 105
class mail, a notice stating the place where and the time when he or she 106
is to appear and such notice shall constitute a sufficient summons unless 107
a judge of said court directs that jurors be summoned in some other 108
manner. 109
(b) Such summons or notice shall also state the fact that a juror has a 110
right to one postponement of the juror's term of juror service for not 111
more than ten months and may contain any other information and 112
instructions deemed appropriate by the Jury Administrator. If the date 113
to which the juror has postponed jury service is improper, unavailable 114 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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or inconvenient for the court, the Jury Administrator shall assign a date 115
of service which, if possible, is reasonably close to the postponement 116
date selected by the juror. Such notice or summons shall be made 117
available to any party or to the attorney for such party in an action to be 118
tried to a jury. The Jury Administrator may grant additional 119
postponements within or beyond said ten months but not beyond one 120
year from the original summons date. 121
(c) The Jury Administrator shall send to a prospective juror a juror 122
confirmation form and a confidential juror questionnaire. Such 123
questionnaire shall include questions eliciting the juror's name, age, race 124
and ethnicity, occupation, education and information usually raised in 125
voir dire examination. The questionnaire shall inform the prospective 126
juror that information concerning race and ethnicity is required solely 127
to enforce nondiscrimination in jury selection, that the furnishing of 128
such information is not a prerequisite to being qualified for jury service 129
and that such information need not be furnished if the prospective juror 130
finds it objectionable to do so. Such juror confirmation form and 131
confidential juror questionnaire shall be signed by the prospective juror 132
under penalty of false statement. Copies of the completed 133
questionnaires shall be provided to the judge and counsel for use during 134
voir dire or in preparation therefor. Counsel shall be required to return 135
such copies to the clerk of the court upon completion of the voir dire. 136
Except for disclosure made during voir dire or unless the court orders 137
otherwise, information inserted by jurors shall be held in confidence by 138
the court, the parties, counsel and their authorized agents. Such 139
completed questionnaires shall not constitute a public record. 140
(d) The number of jurors in a panel may be reduced when, in the 141
opinion of the court, such number of jurors is in excess of reasonable 142
requirements. Such reduction by the clerk shall be accomplished by lot 143
to the extent authorized by the court and the jurors released shall be 144
subject to recall for jury duty only if and when required. 145
(e) In each judicial district, the Chief Court Administrator shall 146
designate one or more courthouses to be the courthouse to which jurors 147 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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[shall] originally shall be summoned. The court may assign any jurors 148
of a jury pool to attend any courtroom within the judicial district. 149
(f) On and after July 1, 2022, and until June 30, 2023, for each jury 150
summons the Jury Administrator finds to be undeliverable, the Jury 151
Administrator shall cause an additional randomly generated jury 152
summons to be sent to a juror having a zip code that is the same as to 153
which the undeliverable summons was sent. 154
Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of section 51-232 of the general statutes is 155
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 156
1, 2022): 157
(c) (1) The Jury Administrator shall [send] provide to a prospective 158
juror a juror confirmation form and a confidential juror questionnaire. 159
Such questionnaire shall include questions eliciting the juror's name, 160
age, race and ethnicity, gender, occupation, education, [and] 161
information usually raised in voir dire examination and such other 162
demographic information determined appropriate by the Judicial 163
Branch. The questionnaire shall inform the prospective juror that 164
information concerning race and ethnicity is required solely to enforce 165
nondiscrimination in jury selection, that the furnishing of such 166
information is not a prerequisite to being qualified for jury service and 167
that such information need not be furnished if the prospective juror 168
finds it objectionable to do so. Such juror confirmation form and 169
confidential juror questionnaire shall be signed by the prospective juror 170
under penalty of false statement. Copies of the completed 171
questionnaires shall be provided to the judge and to counsel for use 172
during voir dire or in preparation therefor. Counsel shall be required to 173
return such copies to the clerk of the court upon completion of the voir 174
dire. Except for disclosure made during voir dire or unless the court 175
orders otherwise, information inserted by jurors shall be held in 176
confidence by the court, the parties, counsel and their authorized agents. 177
Such completed questionnaires shall not constitute a public record. 178
(2) The Judicial Branch shall compile a record of the demographic 179 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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characteristics of all persons who: (A) Are summoned for jury service, 180
(B) participated in a panel, (C) are subject to a peremptory challenge, (D) 181
are subject to challenge for cause, and (E) serve on a jury. Such record 182
shall exclude personally identifiable information and shall be 183
maintained in a manner that provides free and open access to the 184
information on the Internet. As used in this subdivision, "personally 185
identifiable information" means any identifying information that is 186
linked or linkable to a specific individual. 187
Sec. 6. Section 51-247 of the general statutes is repealed and the 188
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 189
(a) Each full-time employed juror shall be paid regular wages by the 190
juror's employer for the first five days, or part thereof, of jury service. 191
Such payment shall be subject to the requirements of section 31-71b and 192
any employer who violates this section shall be subject to the provisions 193
of sections 31-71g and 31-72. A person shall not be considered a full-time 194
employed juror on any day of jury service in which such person (1) 195
would not have accrued regular wages to be paid by the employer if 196
such person were not serving as a juror on that day, or (2) would not 197
have worked more than one-half of a shift which extends into another 198
day if such person were not serving as a juror on that day. Each part-199
time employed or unemployed juror who has no source of 200
compensation for the first five days of jury service shall receive a flat fee 201
equal to the minimum fair wage, as defined in section 31-58, in effect on 202
the days of jury service, based on an eight-hour day. Each juror not 203
considered a full-time employed juror on a particular day of jury service 204
pursuant to subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection shall be reimbursed 205
by the state for necessary out-of-pocket expenses incurred during that 206
day of jury service. [, provided such day of service is within the first five 207
days, or part thereof, of jury service.] Each part-time employed juror and 208
unemployed juror shall be reimbursed by the state for necessary out-of-209
pocket expenses incurred during the first five days, or part thereof, of 210
jury service. Necessary out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be 211
limited to, [twenty cents] family care at a rate established by the Jury 212 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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Administrator under subsection (b) of this section and travel expenses, 213
based on the privately owned vehicle mileage reimbursement rate 214
established by the federal General Services Administration, for each 215
mile of travel from the juror's place of residence to the place of holding 216
the court and return and shall exclude food. The mileage shall be 217
determined by the shortest direct route either by highway or by any 218
regular line of conveyance between the points. A reimbursement award 219
under this subsection for each day of service shall not be less than 220
twenty dollars or more than [fifty dollars] the minimum fair wage, as 221
defined in section 31-58, in effect on the days of jury service, based on 222
an eight-hour day. For the purposes of this subsection, "full-time 223
employed juror" means an employee holding a position normally 224
requiring thirty hours or more of service in each week, which position 225
is neither temporary nor casual, and includes an employee holding a 226
position through a temporary help service, as defined in section 31-129, 227
which position normally requires thirty hours or more of service in each 228
week, who has been working in that position for a period exceeding 229
ninety days, and "part-time employed juror" means an employee 230
holding a position normally requiring less than thirty hours of service 231
in each week or an employee working on a temporary or casual basis. 232
In the event that a juror may be considered to be both a full-time 233
employed juror and a part-time employed juror for any day of the first 234
five days, or part thereof, of jury service, such juror shall, for the 235
purposes of this section, be considered to be a full-time employed juror 236
only. 237
(b) The Jury Administrator shall establish guidelines for 238
reimbursement of expenses pursuant to this section. 239
(c) Each juror who serves more than five days who is not paid by his 240
or her employer after the fifth day shall be paid by the state for the sixth 241
day and each day thereafter [at a rate of fifty dollars] a flat fee equal to 242
the minimum fair wage, as defined in section 31-58, in effect on the days 243
of jury service, based on an eight-hour day, per day of service. A juror 244
receiving payment under this subsection shall not be entitled to any 245 Substitute Bill No. 6548
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additional reimbursement. An unemployed or part-time employed 246
juror who serves more than five days shall also be entitled to family care 247
and travel expenses paid at the rate specified in subsection (a) of this 248
section and subject to the guidelines established in subsection (b) of this 249
section. 250
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 51-217
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 51-220
Sec. 3 October 1, 2022 51-220a
Sec. 4 July 1, 2022 51-232
Sec. 5 October 1, 2022 51-232(c)
Sec. 6 October 1, 2021 51-247
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.