West Virginia Legislature

2016 Regular Session

ENGROSSED

House Bill 2584

2015 Carryover

(By Delegates Rohrbach, Sobonya, Shott, Miller, Hicks, Reynolds and Rowe)

[Introduced January 13, 2016; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §52‑1‑11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to jury service; allowing a judge to excuse a potential juror from jury duty until a later date based on seasonal employment.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §52‑1‑11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1.  PETIT JURIES.

§52‑1‑11.  Excuses from jury service.

(a) The court, upon request of a prospective juror or on its own initiative, shall determine on the basis of information provided on the juror qualification form or interview with the prospective juror or other competent evidence whether the prospective juror should be excused from jury service.  The clerk shall enter this determination in the space provided on the juror qualification form.

(b) A person who is not disqualified for jury service under section eight of this article may be excused from jury service by the court upon a showing of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity, for a period the court deems necessary, at the conclusion of which the person shall reappear for jury service in accordance with the court's direction.

(c) For purposes of this section, a person that is engaged in seasonal employment may be excused from jury service by the court for the duration of the seasonal employment on the basis of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity:  Provided, That the court may, upon facts known or made known to it, make the determination as to whether a prospective juror is engaged in seasonal employment and the duration of said seasonal employment.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a judge to excuse a potential juror from jury duty until a later date based on seasonal employment.

Strike‑throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.