Bill Text: CA AB881 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Juror fees: pilot program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-29 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB881 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB881-Amended.html

---

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 18, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 881

---

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 14, 2023

---

An act to amend Section 215 240 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to jury duty.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 881, as amended, Ting. Jury duty. Juror fees: pilot program.

Existing law, the Trial Jury Selection and Management Act, requires all persons be selected for jury service at random, from a source or sources inclusive of a representative cross section of the population of the area served by the court. The act further requires a juror in a civil or criminal superior court case to be paid a fee of $15 a day for each day’s attendance as a juror after the first day, except as specified, plus reimbursement for mileage. Existing law also establishes the Trial Court Trust Fund for the purpose of funding trial court operations. For purposes of those provisions, court operations are defined to include, among other things, juror expenses such as per diem fees and mileage.

Existing law authorizes the Superior Court of San Francisco to conduct a pilot program to analyze and determine whether paying certain low-income trial jurors $100 per day for each day they are required to report for service as a trial juror in a criminal case promotes a more economically and racially diverse trial jury panel that more accurately reflects the demographics of the community.

This bill would require a juror in a civil or criminal case to be paid a fee of not less than $15 a day for each day’s attendance as a juror after the first day, except as specified, but would increase the daily fee to $100 a day for qualifying low-income trial jurors for criminal cases in the superior court in all counties. expand the above-described pilot program to include the Superior Courts of Alameda County, Kern County, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, and San Francisco. The bill would require the pilot program to fund the $100 fee using private or other funding, as specified. The bill would require the pilot program court to collect data self-reported by jurors who receive the increased fee and would require the Judicial Council to prepare an analysis and report of that data and conclusion about the pilot program. The bill would require the pilot program court to terminate the pilot program on or before December 31, 2025, or at any time it determines the increased financial reimbursement is causing prejudice to the rights of litigants or the interests of justice. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2027.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

---

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 240 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:

240.

 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 215, the Superior Court of San Francisco, in conjunction with the City and County of San Francisco and their justice partners, is authorized to Superior Courts of Alameda County, Kern County, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, and San Francisco shall conduct a pilot program pursuant to the requirements of this section to analyze and determine whether paying certain low-income trial jurors an increased fee for service as a trial juror in a criminal case promotes a more economically and racially diverse trial jury panel that more accurately reflects the demographics of the community. This pilot program shall be developed and implemented at no cost to the Superior Court of San Francisco.

(b) The fee for service as a trial juror in a criminal case paid pursuant to the pilot program shall be as follows:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a trial juror in a criminal case shall be paid the fee required by Section 215.

(2) A trial juror in a criminal case shall be paid a fee of one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day they are required to report for service as a trial juror if the trial juror’s household income for the past 12 months is less than 80 percent of the San Francisco Bay area median income of the county in which the superior court is located and the trial juror meets one of the additional following criteria:

(A) The trial juror’s employer does not compensate for any trial jury service.

(B) The trial juror’s employer does not compensate for trial jury service for the estimated duration of the criminal jury trial.

(C) The trial juror is self-employed.

(D) The trial juror is unemployed.

(c) The pilot program court shall determine whether a trial juror is eligible for the one-hundred-dollar ($100) fee for service in a criminal jury trial pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).

(d) The pilot program court shall only may fund the one-hundred-dollar ($100) fee to eligible trial jurors using private or other funding, including funding provided by The Financial Justice Project of the City and County of San Francisco.

(e) The pilot program court shall provide information about the pilot program with every mailed jury summons and all information that is provided regarding excuse from jury service based on a hardship. The pilot program court and court staff shall also provide information about the pilot program whenever applicable under the circumstances. The justice partners pilot program court shall develop the materials and language to describe the pilot program to prospective jurors. There shall be no additional cost to the pilot program court to provide information about the pilot program, including all printing and mailing costs, which shall be covered through funds provided by The Financial Justice Project of the City and County of San Francisco.

(f) The pilot program court shall implement a juror self-reporting data collection effort to collect data during the pilot program that allows a thorough analysis of whether paying certain low-income trial jurors an increased fee for service as a trial juror in a criminal case promotes a more economically and racially diverse trial jury panel that more accurately reflects the demographics of the community. The data collected shall include, to the maximum extent possible, the race, ethnicity, and income level of all trial jurors that receive the one-hundred-dollar ($100) fee for service as a trial juror. The justice partners Judicial Council shall design the self-reporting data collection survey and the pilot program court shall use existing resources and leverage technology to disseminate and collect surveys from jurors, and shall not require additional funding to support this data collection effort. jurors.

(g) The pilot program court and the justice partners shall select a third-party entity to prepare an analysis and report of the data collected pursuant to subdivision (f) without any cost to the pilot program court. Any funding required to support the third-party entity shall be made available through funds provided by The Financial Justice Project of the City and County of San Francisco. The third-party entity Judicial Council shall prepare a report of its analysis of the data and conclusion whether paying certain low-income trial jurors an increased fee for service as a trial juror in a criminal case promotes a more economically and racially diverse trial jury panel that more accurately reflects the demographics of the community. The third-party entity Judicial Council shall transmit its report to the pilot program court and the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, within six months of the conclusion of the pilot program.

(h) The pilot program court shall terminate the pilot program on or before December 31, 2023. 2025. The pilot program court shall terminate the pilot program if at any time it determines the increased financial reimbursement is causing prejudice to the rights of litigants or the interests of justice.

(i) For the purposes of this section only, “pilot program court” means the Superior Court of San Francisco. following superior courts:

(1) Superior Court of Alameda County.

(2) Superior Court of Kern County.

(3) Superior Court of Los Angeles County.

(4) Superior Court of Monterey County.

(5) Superior Court of San Francisco.

(j)For the purposes of this section only, “justice partners” means the San Francisco Financial Justice Project within the Treasurer’s Office, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, and the San Francisco Bar Association.

(k)

(j) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.

SECTION 1.Section 215 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:

215.

(a)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), the fee for jurors in the superior court, in civil and criminal cases, is not less than fifteen dollars ($15) a day for each day’s attendance as a juror after the first day.

(2)The fee for jurors in the superior court in criminal cases is one hundred dollars ($100) a day for each day the juror is required to report for service as a trial juror if the trial juror’s household income for the past 12 months is less than 80 percent of the area median income of the county in which the superior court is located, and the trial juror meets one of the additional following criteria:

(A)The trial juror’s employer does not compensate for any trial jury service.

(B)The trial juror’s employer does not compensate for trial jury service for the estimated duration of the criminal jury trial.

(C)The trial juror is self-employed.

(D)The trial juror is unemployed.

(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a juror who is employed by a federal, state, or local government entity, or by any other public entity as defined in Section 481.200, and who receives regular compensation and benefits while performing jury service, shall not be paid the fee described in subdivision (a).

(c)All jurors in the superior court, in civil and criminal cases, shall be reimbursed for mileage at the rate of thirty-four cents ($0.34) per mile for each mile actually traveled in attending and returning from court as a juror after the first day.

(d)All jurors and prospective jurors who have been summoned shall be provided with access to existing public transit services at no cost utilizing one of the following options:

(1)Courts may partner with public transit operators in their county to create new programs or continue existing public transit programs that provide no-cost service for jurors and prospective jurors who have been summoned.

(2)A method of reimbursement determined by the court up to a daily maximum of twelve dollars ($12).

(e)Subdivision (d) does not apply to a court in an area where a public transit operator does not provide existing service that is reasonably available to the court facility.

(f)In determining whether transit service is reasonably available to the court facility, the court shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)Proximity of transit service to the court location.

(2)Hours of operation of transit service in the vicinity of the court location.

(3)Frequency of operation of transit service in the vicinity of the court location.

(4)Availability of transit access to all areas of the court’s jurisdiction from which a potential juror may reside.

(g)Prior to determining that transit service is not reasonably available to the court facility, the court shall contact the public transit operator to inquire whether new transit options may be implemented near the court.