By: Hughes S.B. No. 2087
(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
March 30, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10,
Nays 1; March 30, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exemption from jury service for the spouse of an
officer or employee in the legislative branch of government.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 62.106(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person qualified to serve as a petit juror may
establish an exemption from jury service if the person:
(1) is over 70 years of age;
(2) has legal custody of a child younger than 12 years
of age and the person's service on the jury requires leaving the
child without adequate supervision;
(3) is a student of a public or private secondary
school;
(4) is a person enrolled and in actual attendance at an
institution of higher education;
(5) is an officer or an employee, or the spouse of an
officer or employee, of the senate, the house of representatives,
or any department, commission, board, office, or other agency in
the legislative branch of state government;
(6) is summoned for service in a county with a
population of at least 200,000, unless that county uses a jury plan
under Section 62.011 and the period authorized under Section
62.011(b)(5) exceeds two years, and the person has served as a petit
juror in the county during the 24-month period preceding the date
the person is to appear for jury service;
(7) is the primary caretaker of a person who is unable
to care for himself or herself;
(8) except as provided by Subsection (b), is summoned
for service in a county with a population of at least 250,000 and
the person has served as a petit juror in the county during the
three-year period preceding the date the person is to appear for
jury service; or
(9) is a member of the United States military forces
serving on active duty and deployed to a location away from the
person's home station and out of the person's county of residence.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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