Bill Text: AZ SB1006 | 2025 | Fifty-seventh Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Fair jury improvement fund
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-15 - Senate read second time [SB1006 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2025-SB1006-Introduced.html
PREFILED DEC 10 2024
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REFERENCE TITLE: fair jury improvement fund |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
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SB 1006 |
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Introduced by Senator Kavanagh
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An Act
amending sections 12-115 and 21-222, Arizona Revised Statutes; repealing Laws 2003, chapter 200, section 13, as amended by Laws 2014, chapter 77, section 3 and Laws 2017, chapter 141, section 1; repealing Laws 2014, chapter 77, section 4, as amended by Laws 2017, chapter 141, section 2; relating to the supreme court.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 12-115, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
12-115. Additional filing, appearance and answer or response fees; deposit
A. In addition to any other assessment authorized by law, the supreme court shall establish an additional fee on each filing, appearance and answer or response fee charged by a clerk of the superior court.
B. The clerk shall collect the additional fee and monthly remit the additional fees to the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall transmit the fees to the state treasurer on or before the fifteenth day of each month for deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the Arizona trial and digital evidence fair jury improvement fund established by section 21-222. The state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.
C. The additional fee may be deferred or waived pursuant to sections 12-302 and 12-304.
D. In establishing the additional fees under subsection A of this section, the supreme court may designate by rule that the additional fees not be imposed on filings in types of cases that involve minimal use of court resources, that are not afforded the opportunity for a trial by jury or that do not involve the use of digital evidence.
Sec. 2. Section 21-222, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
21-222. Fair jury improvement fund
A. The Arizona trial and digital evidence fair jury improvement fund is established consisting of monies received from the additional fees paid on all filings, appearances, responses and answers pursuant to section 12-115 and monies appropriated by the legislature. The monies in the fund shall not be used for any purpose other than as prescribed in this section.
B. The supreme court shall administer the fund and shall adopt rules for administering the fund. Not more than three percent of the monies in the fund shall be used for the reasonable and necessary costs of administering the fund. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, on receipt of a request for reimbursement the supreme court shall transmit monies from the fund to a jury commissioner for monies paid to a juror under this section, together with a fee of not less than the amount prescribed in section 12-284, subsection A, class E for each application for payment of replacement or supplemental earnings by a juror.
C. Subject to the availability of monies, monies in the fund shall be used to:
1. Pay full or partial earnings replacement or supplementation to jurors who serve as petit jurors in the superior court and who receive less than full compensation. The amount of replacement or supplemental earnings shall be at least $40 but not more than $300 per day per juror beginning on the first day of jury service.
2. If monies are available in the fund after paying jurors pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection, pay for the management and storage of digital evidence and to facilitate the display of the evidence to the jury and court at a trial and related proceedings.
D. A person who serves as a petit juror in the superior court may submit a request for payment from the fund. The amount a juror receives from the fund is limited to the difference between the jury fee prescribed in section 21-221 and the actual amount of earnings a juror earns, not less than $40, up to the maximum level payable under subsection C, paragraph 1 of this section, minus any amount the juror actually received from the juror's employer during the same time period. A juror who requests payment from the fund:
1. Shall disclose on the form the juror's regular earnings, the amount the juror's employer will pay during the term of jury service starting on the first day and thereafter, the amount of replacement or supplemental earnings being requested and any other information that the jury commissioner deems necessary.
2. Before receiving payment from the fund, shall submit verification from the juror's employer, if any, regarding the earnings information that is provided under paragraph 1 of this subsection. This verification may include the employee's most recent earnings statement or a similar document.
3. In order to verify the weekly income if the juror is self-employed or receives compensation other than wages, shall provide a sworn affidavit attesting to the juror's approximate gross weekly income, together with any other information that the supreme court requires.
E. Jurors who are unemployed and are not eligible for payment pursuant to subsection C, paragraph 1 and subsection D of this section are eligible to be paid $40 per day, even if they receive income in the form of spousal maintenance, pensions, retirement, unemployment compensation, disability benefits or other similar income. Commissioners shall not deduct these other forms of income in calculating the amount these jurors are to be paid from the fund.
Sec. 3. Repeal
A. Laws 2003, chapter 200, section 13, as amended by Laws 2014, chapter 77, section 3 and Laws 2017, chapter 141, section 1, is repealed.
B. Laws 2014, chapter 77, section 4, as amended by Laws 2017, chapter 141, section 2, is repealed.
