By: Creighton S.B. No. 2020
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2017; March 27, 2017, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 18, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 18, 2017,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2020 By: Creighton
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to voter information used for juror selections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 62.001(a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h),
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The jury wheel must be reconstituted by using, as the
source:
(1) the names of all persons on the current statewide
voter registration list maintained as required under Section
18.061, Election Code, [lists] from all the precincts in the
county; and
(2) all names on a current list to be furnished by the
Department of Public Safety as required by Subsection (f), showing
the residents [citizens] of the county who:
(A) hold a valid Texas driver's license or a
valid personal identification card or certificate issued by the
department; and
(B) are not disqualified from jury service under
Section 62.102(1), (2), (3), or (8) [(7)].
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the following names [of
persons listed on a register of persons exempt from jury service]
may not be placed in the jury wheel:
(1) the names of persons listed on a registrar of
persons exempt from jury service[,] as provided by Sections 62.108
and 62.109; and
(2) the names of persons on the suspense list
maintained by the voter registrar under Section 15.081, Election
Code.
(c) Each year not later than the third Tuesday in November
or the date provided by Section 16.032, Election Code, for the
cancellation of voter registrations, whichever is earlier, the
voter registrar of each county shall furnish to the secretary of
state a list of people exempted from jury service under Subsection
(b) [current voter registration list from all the precincts in the
county that, except as provided by Subsection (d), includes:
[(1) the complete name, mailing address, date of
birth, voter registration number, and precinct number for each
voter;
[(2) if available, the Texas driver's license number
or personal identification card or certificate number and social
security number for each voter; and
[(3) any other information included on the voter
registration list of the county].
(f) The Department of Public Safety shall furnish a list to
the secretary of state that shows the names required under
Subsection (a)(2) and that contains any [of the] information
[enumerated in Subsection (c) that is] available to the department
regarding a person's residential address, mailing address, date of
birth, Texas driver's license number or personal identification
card or certificate number, social security number, [including]
citizenship status, and county of residence. The list shall
exclude the names of convicted felons, persons who are not citizens
of the United States, persons residing outside the county, and the
duplicate name of any registrant. The department shall furnish the
list to the secretary of state on or before the first Monday in
October of each year.
(g) The secretary of state shall accept the lists furnished
as provided by Subsections (c) and [(c) through] (f). The secretary
of state shall combine the list furnished under Subsection (f) with
the information on the statewide voter registration list maintained
by the voter registrar as required under Section 18.061, Election
Code, eliminate duplicate names and names of exempt persons on the
list provided to the secretary of state under Subsection (c)
[lists, eliminate duplicate names], and send the combined list to
each county on or before December 31 of each year or as may be
required under a plan developed in accordance with Section 62.011.
The district clerk or bailiff designated as the officer in charge of
the jury selection process for a county that has adopted a plan
under Section 62.011 shall give the secretary of state notice not
later than the 90th day before the date the list is required. The
list furnished the county [must be in a format, electronic or
printed copy, as requested by the county and] must be certified by
the secretary of state stating that the list contains the names
required by Subsection (a) and excludes the names of exempt persons
provided to the secretary of state under Subsection [Subsections
(c) through] (f), eliminating duplications. The secretary of state
shall furnish the electronic list free of charge.
(h) If the secretary of state is unable to furnish the list
as provided in this section because of the failure of the voter
registrar to furnish the information necessary to maintain the
statewide voter registration list as required under Section 18.061,
Election Code [county voter registration list to the secretary of
state], the county tax assessor-collector, sheriff, county clerk,
and district clerk in the county shall meet at the county courthouse
between January 1 and January 15 of the following year and shall
reconstitute the jury wheel for the county, except as provided
under a plan adopted under Section 62.011. The deadlines included
in the plan control for preparing the list and reconstituting the
wheel. The secretary of state shall send the list furnished by the
Department of Public Safety as provided by Subsection (f) to the
voter registrar, who shall combine the lists as described in this
section for use as the juror source and certify the combined list as
required of the secretary of state under Subsection (g).
SECTION 2. Section 62.011, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(d) A state agency or the secretary of state may not charge a
fee for furnishing an electronic [a] list of names required by
Section 62.001.
(e) The commissioners court of a county that has adopted a
jury selection plan must file with the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System a copy of the plan and
any modification to the plan.
SECTION 3. Section 62.113, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(b-1) The list of persons excused or disqualified because of
citizenship as required by Subsection (b) may not be combined with
or submitted simultaneously with any other list required to be
submitted to the voter registrar of the county, including a list
submitted under Section 62.114.
(e) The information required to be filed with the secretary
of state under this section must be filed electronically in the
format prescribed by the secretary of state. The secretary of state
may waive this requirement on application for a waiver submitted by
the clerk.
SECTION 4. Section 62.114, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The list compiled under this section of persons excused
or disqualified because the person is not a resident of the county
may not be combined with or submitted simultaneously with any other
list required to be submitted to the voter registrar of the county,
including a list submitted under Section 62.113.
SECTION 5. Sections 62.001(d) and (e), Government Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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