Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB2972 Compare Versions

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	3	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 1 1
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30		-	March 29, 2022
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33	28		ENGROSSED HOUSE
34	29		BILL NO. 2972 By: West (Rick) of the House
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36	31		and
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38	33		Burns of the Senate
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43	38		An Act relating to jurors; amending 38 O.S. 2021,
44	39		Section 28, which relates to jury service exem ptions;
45	40		authorizing physician assistant to verify medical
46	41		exemption; authorizing advanced practice registered
47	42		nurse to verify medical exemption; and providing an
48	43		effective date.
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53	48		BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
54	49		SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 38 O.S. 202 1, Section 28, is
55	50		amended to read as follows:
56	51		Section 28. A. It is the policy of this state that all
57	52		citizens qualified for jury service pursuant to this section have an
58	53		obligation to serve on petit juries w hen summoned by the courts of
59	54		this state, unless excused.
60	55		B. All citizens of the United States, residing in this state,
61	56		having the qualifications of electors of this state, are competen t
62	57		jurors to serve on all grand and petit juries within their counties;
63	58		provided, that persons over seventy (70) years of age and persons
64	59		who have served as a grand or petit juror during the last five (5)
	60	+	immediately preceding calendar years shall not be co mpelled to serve
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66		-	SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2972 SFLR Page 2
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	62	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 2 1
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92		-	immediately preceding calendar years shall not be co mpelled to serve
93	87		as jurors in this state and the court may excuse or d ischarge any
94	88		juror drawn and summoned as a grand or petit juror if:
95	89		1. The prospective juror has a mental or physical condition
96	90		that causes him or her to be incapable of performing jury service.
97	91		The juror, or the juror 's personal representative, shall pr ovide the
98	92		court with documentation from a physician , physician assistant or
99	93		advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice medicine
100	94		verifying that a mental or physical conditio n renders the person
101	95		unfit for jury service for a period of up to twen ty-four (24)
102	96		months; or
103	97		2. Jury service would cause undue or extreme phy sical or
104	98		financial hardship to the prospective juror or a person under his or
105	99		her care or supervision. A judge o f the court for which the
106	100		individual was called to jury service shall make undue or extreme
107	101		physical or financial hardship determinations. The authority to
108	102		make these determinations is delegable only to court officials or
109	103		personnel who are authorized by t he laws of this state to function
110	104		as members of the judiciary. A pers on requesting to be excused
111	105		based on a finding of undue or extreme physic al or financial
112	106		hardship shall take all actions necessary to have obtained a ruling
113	107		on that request by no later t han the date on which the individual is
114	108		scheduled to appear for jury d uty. For purposes of this section,
115	109		"undue or extreme physical or financi al hardship" is limited to
	110	+	circumstances in which an indi vidual would be required to abandon a
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117		-	SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2972 SFLR Page 3
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	112	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 3 1
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143		-	circumstances in which an indi vidual would be required to abandon a
144	137		person under his or her personal care or supervision due to the
145	138		impossibility of obtaini ng an appropriate substitute caregiver
146	139		during the period of participation in the jury pool or on the jury,
147	140		incur costs that would have a substantial adverse impact on the
148	141		payment of the individual's necessary daily living expenses or on
149	142		those for whom he or she provides the principal means of support, or
150	143		suffer physical hardshi p that would result in illness or disease.
151	144		Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not exist
152	145		solely based on the fact that a prospective juror will be required
153	146		to be absent from his or her place of employment. A person
154	147		requesting a judge to grant an excuse based on undue or extreme
155	148		physical or financial hardship shall be required to provide the
156	149		judge with documentation, such as, but not limited to, federal and
157	150		state income tax returns, medical statements from licensed
158	151		physicians, proof of dep endency or guardianship, and similar
159	152		documents, which the judge finds to clearly support the request to
160	153		be excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation shall
161	154		result in a denial of the request to be excused.
162	155		After two (2) years, a person excused from jury service shall
163	156		become eligible once again for qu alification as a juror unless the
164	157		person was excused fro m service permanently. A person is excused
165	158		from jury service permanen tly only when the deciding judge
	159	+	determines that the underlying grounds f or being excused are of a
	160	+	permanent nature.
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167		-	SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2972 SFLR Page 4
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	162	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 4 1
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193		-	determines that the underlying grounds f or being excused are of a
194		-	permanent nature.
195	187		C. Persons who are not qualified to serve as jurors are:
196	188		1. Justices of the Supreme Court or the Court of Civil Appeals;
197	189		2. Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals or the district
198	190		court;
199	191		3. Sheriffs or deputy sheriffs;
200	192		4. Municipal or state law enforcement officer s employed in any
201	193		county with a population of two hundre d fifty-five thousand
202	194		(255,000) or more;
203	195		5. Federal law enforcement o fficers;
204	196		6. Licensed attorneys engaged in the practice of law;
205	197		7. Persons who have been convicted of any felony or who have
206	198		served a term of imprisonment in any penitentiary, state or federal,
207	199		for the commission of a felony; provided, any such citizen
208	200		convicted, who has been fully restored to his or her civil rights,
209	201		shall be eligible to serve as a juror; and
210	202		8. Legislators during a session of the Legislature or when
211	203		involved in state business.
212	204		D. Jailers, or municipal or state law enforcement officers in a
213	205		county with a population of less than two hundred fifty -five
214	206		thousand (255,000), shall be eligible to serve on noncriminal
215	207		actions only.
	208	+	E. Upon his or her request, a person shall be exempt from
	209	+	service as a juror if the person is:
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217		-	SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2972 SFLR Page 5
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	211	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 5 1
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243		-	E. Upon his or her request, a person shall be exempt from
244		-	service as a juror if the person is:
245	236		1. A member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is
246	237		serving on active duty during a time of war or declared hostilities;
247	238		or
248	239		2. A mother who is breast-feeding a baby.
249	240		F. The district court may provide electronic resources for
250	241		persons summoned for jury duty to obtain information about their
251	242		jury service and to submit information to the court, including but
252	243		not limited to communications via te lephone, text messag e,
253	244		electronic mail and website. The court may utilize an approved
254	245		electronic jury management system to record, process, respond to,
255	246		and maintain juror communications. The court clerk and the trial
256	247		court administrator, under the superv ision and control of the
257	248		presiding judge or chief judge, or any district judge acting as his
258	249		or her designee, may be authorized to make determinations regarding
259	250		juror excusals, exemptions, disqualifi cations, postponements and
260	251		deferrals. However, determina tions regarding extr eme physical or
261	252		financial hardship shall be made as provided in paragraph 2 of
262	253		subsection B of this section.
263	254		G. Information provided to the court pursuant to this section
264	255		by persons summoned for jury service shall be used exclusively f or
265	256		purposes of determining jury disqualifications or excusals. No
	257	+	person shall disclose, copy or permit any person to copy this
	258	+	information for purposes other than jury management.
	259	+	SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 20 22.
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267		-	SENATE FLOOR VERSION - HB2972 SFLR Page 6
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	261	+	ENGR. H. B. NO. 2972 Page 6 1
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293		-	person shall disclose, copy or permit any person to copy this
294		-	information for purposes other than jury management.
295		-	SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 20 22.
296		-	COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
297		-	March 29, 2022 - DO PASS
	286	+	Passed the House of Representatives the 14th day of March, 2022.
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	291	+	Presiding Officer of the House
	292	+	of Representatives
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	295	+	Passed the Senate the ___ day of __________, 2022.
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	300	+	Presiding Officer of the Senate
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