Substitute House Bill No. 6548
Public Act No. 21-170
AN ACT CONCERNING THE 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 Section 51-217 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021):
(a) All jurors shall be electors, individuals lawfully admitted for
permanent residence, as defined in 8 USC 1101(a)(20), as amended from
time to time, or citizens of the United States, who are residents of this
state having a permanent place of abode in this state and appear on the
list compiled by the Jury Administrator under subsection (b) of section
51-222a, who have reached the age of eighteen. A person shall be
disqualified to serve as a juror if such person: (1) Is found by a judge of
the Superior Court to exhibit any quality which will impair the capacity
of such person to serve as a juror, except that no person shall be
disqualified because the person is deaf or hard of hearing; (2) has been
convicted of a felony within the past [seven] three years or is a
defendant in a pending felony case or is in the custody of the
Commissioner of Correction; (3) is not able to speak and understand the
English language; (4) is the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary
of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller or Attorney General; (5) is a judge
of the Probate Court, Superior Court, Appellate Court or Supreme Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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Court, is a family support magistrate or is a federal court judge; (6) is a
member of the General Assembly, provided such disqualification shall
apply only while the General Assembly is in session; (7) is a registrar of
voters or deputy registrar of voters of a municipality, provided such
disqualification shall apply only during the period from twenty-one
days before the date of a federal, state or municipal election, primary or
referendum to twenty-one days after the date of such election, primary
or referendum, inclusive; (8) is [seventy] seventy-five years of age or
older and chooses not to perform juror service; (9) is incapable, by
reason of a physical or mental disability, of rendering satisfactory juror
service; or (10) for the jury year commencing on September 1, 2017, and
each jury year thereafter, has served in the United States District Court
for the District of Connecticut as (A) a federal juror on a matter that has
been tried to a jury during the last three preceding jury years, or (B) a
federal grand juror during the last three preceding jury years. Any
person claiming a disqualification under subdivision (9) of this
subsection shall submit to the Jury Administrator a letter from a licensed
health care provider stating the health care provider's opinion that such
disability prevents the person from rendering satisfactory juror service.
In reaching such opinion, the health care provider shall apply the
following guideline: A person shall be capable of rendering satisfactory
juror service if such person is able to perform a sedentary job requiring
close attention for six hours per day, with short work breaks in the
morning and afternoon sessions, for at least three consecutive business
days. Any person claiming a disqualification under subdivision (10) of
this subsection shall supply proof of federal jury service satisfactory to
the Jury Administrator.
(b) The Jury Administrator may determine, in such manner and at
such times as the Jury Administrator deems feasible, whether any
person is qualified to serve as juror under this section and whether any
person may be excused for extreme hardship. Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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(c) The Jury Administrator shall have the authority to establish and
maintain a list of persons to be excluded from the summoning process,
which shall consist of (1) persons who are disqualified from serving on
jury duty on a permanent basis due to a disability for which a licensed
physician or an advanced practice registered nurse has submitted a
letter stating the physician's or advanced practice registered nurse's
opinion that such disability permanently prevents the person from
rendering satisfactory jury service, (2) persons [seventy] seventy-five
years of age or older who have requested not to be summoned, (3)
elected officials enumerated in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this
section and judges enumerated in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of
this section during their term of office, and (4) persons excused from
jury service pursuant to section 51-217a who have not requested to be
summoned for jury service pursuant to said section. Persons requesting
to be excluded pursuant to subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection
must provide the Jury Administrator with their names, addresses, dates
of birth and federal Social Security numbers for use in matching. The
request to be excluded may be rescinded at any time with written notice
to the Jury Administrator.
Sec. 2. Section 51-220 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023):
(a) The number of jurors to be chosen from each town shall be equal
to a percentage of the town's population rounded off to the nearest
whole number, such percentage to be determined by the Jury
Administrator [. Such population figures shall derive from the last
published census of the United States government.] in accordance with
the provisions of this section and section 51-220a, as amended by this
act. The number of jurors chosen from each town shall reflect the
proportional representation of the population of each town within the
judicial district. The Jury Administrator shall calculate such percentage
by determining each town's proportional share of the population of the Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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judicial district and dividing that proportional share by the town's yield
ratio. A town's yield ratio shall be calculated by dividing the number of
jurors from such town who, when summoned during the previous court
year, complied with the summons to appear for jury service, by the
product that results when the town's proportional share of the
population of the judicial district is multiplied by the total number of
jurors summoned in the judicial district in the previous court year. For
purposes of this subsection, "court year" means a one-year period
beginning on September first and ending on August thirty-first of the
following year.
(b) The Jury Administrator shall derive population figures from the
most recent decennial census.
Sec. 3. Section 51-220a of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022):
(a) Electronic data processing and similar equipment may be used in
the selection, drawing and summoning of jurors under this chapter. At
[his] the Jury Administrator's election, the Jury Administrator may enter
into a computerized data processing file the names of persons appearing
on the list compiled under subsection (b) of section 51-222a, in order to
perform any of the duties prescribed in this chapter.
(b) In carrying out the duties prescribed in section 51-220, as
amended by this act, the Jury Administrator annually shall compile the
number of jurors summoned from each town who complied with the
summons and appeared for jury service.
Sec. 4. Section 51-232 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022):
(a) The Jury Administrator shall send to each juror drawn, by first
class mail, a notice stating the place where and the time when he or she
is to appear and such notice shall constitute a sufficient summons unless Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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a judge of said court directs that jurors be summoned in some other
manner.
(b) Such summons or notice shall also state the fact that a juror has a
right to one postponement of the juror's term of juror service for not
more than ten months and may contain any other information and
instructions deemed appropriate by the Jury Administrator. If the date
to which the juror has postponed jury service is improper, unavailable
or inconvenient for the court, the Jury Administrator shall assign a date
of service which, if possible, is reasonably close to the postponement
date selected by the juror. Such notice or summons shall be made
available to any party or to the attorney for such party in an action to be
tried to a jury. The Jury Administrator may grant additional
postponements within or beyond said ten months but not beyond one
year from the original summons date.
(c) The Jury Administrator shall send to a prospective juror a juror
confirmation form and a confidential juror questionnaire. Such
questionnaire shall include questions eliciting the juror's name, age, race
and ethnicity, occupation, education and information usually raised in
voir dire examination. The questionnaire shall inform the prospective
juror that information concerning race and ethnicity is required solely
to enforce nondiscrimination in jury selection, that the furnishing of
such information is not a prerequisite to being qualified for jury service
and that such information need not be furnished if the prospective juror
finds it objectionable to do so. Such juror confirmation form and
confidential juror questionnaire shall be signed by the prospective juror
under penalty of false statement. Copies of the completed
questionnaires shall be provided to the judge and counsel for use during
voir dire or in preparation therefor. Counsel shall be required to return
such copies to the clerk of the court upon completion of the voir dire.
Except for disclosure made during voir dire or unless the court orders
otherwise, information inserted by jurors shall be held in confidence by Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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the court, the parties, counsel and their authorized agents. Such
completed questionnaires shall not constitute a public record.
(d) The number of jurors in a panel may be reduced when, in the
opinion of the court, such number of jurors is in excess of reasonable
requirements. Such reduction by the clerk shall be accomplished by lot
to the extent authorized by the court and the jurors released shall be
subject to recall for jury duty only if and when required.
(e) In each judicial district, the Chief Court Administrator shall
designate one or more courthouses to be the courthouse to which jurors
[shall] originally shall be summoned. The court may assign any jurors
of a jury pool to attend any courtroom within the judicial district.
(f) On and after July 1, 2022, and until June 30, 2023, for each jury
summons the Jury Administrator finds to be undeliverable, the Jury
Administrator shall cause an additional randomly generated jury
summons to be sent to a juror having a zip code that is the same as to
which the undeliverable summons was sent.
Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of section 51-232 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2022):
(c) (1) The Jury Administrator shall [send] provide to a prospective
juror a juror confirmation form and a confidential juror questionnaire.
Such questionnaire shall include questions eliciting the juror's name,
age, race and ethnicity, gender, occupation, education, [and]
information usually raised in voir dire examination and such other
demographic information determined appropriate by the Judicial
Branch. The questionnaire shall inform the prospective juror that
information concerning race and ethnicity is required solely to enforce
nondiscrimination in jury selection, that the furnishing of such
information is not a prerequisite to being qualified for jury service and Substitute House Bill No. 6548
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that such information need not be furnished if the prospective juror
finds it objectionable to do so. Such juror confirmation form and
confidential juror questionnaire shall be signed by the prospective juror
under penalty of false statement. Copies of the completed
questionnaires shall be provided to the judge and to counsel for use
during voir dire or in preparation therefor. Counsel shall be required to
return such copies to the clerk of the court upon completion of the voir
dire. Except for disclosure made during voir dire or unless the court
orders otherwise, information inserted by jurors shall be held in
confidence by the court, the parties, counsel and their authorized agents.
Such completed questionnaires shall not constitute a public record.
(2) The Judicial Branch shall compile a record of the demographic
characteristics of all persons who: (A) Are summoned for jury service,
(B) participated in a panel, (C) are subject to a peremptory challenge, (D)
are subject to challenge for cause, and (E) serve on a jury. Such record
shall exclude personally identifiable information and shall be
maintained in a manner that provides free and open access to the
information on the Internet. As used in this subdivision, "personally
identifiable information" means any identifying information that is
linked or linkable to a specific individual.