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
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
Senate
June 07, 2023 |
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 240 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to jury duty.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 881, as amended, Ting.
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 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 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. Judicial Council to administer funding for the pilot program court, and would authorize the Judicial Council to accept private or other funds for administration of the pilot program. 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: NOBill 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 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.(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 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
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. Judicial Council shall administer funding for the pilot program court. The Judicial Council may accept private or other funds for administration of the pilot program court.
(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 pilot program court shall develop the materials and language to describe the pilot program to
prospective jurors.
(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 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.
(g) The 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 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, 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 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) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of
that date is repealed.