Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
 State of Arkansas
 94th General Assembly                        A Bill
 Regular Session, 2023                                                             HOUSE BILL 1367
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 By: Representatives Painter, Vaught
 By: Senator J. Boyd
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                                   For An Act To Be Entitled
                AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE PROCESS OF
                JURY SELECTION; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
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                                               Subtitle
                         TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING THE PROCESS
                         OF JURY SELECTION.
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 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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        SECTION 1.       Arkansas Code § 16-31-101 is amended to read as follows:
        16-31-101.       Qualifications.
        (a)    Every licensed driver or, in counties where an enhanced
 prospective jury list is utilized, every registered voter, licensed driver,
 or person issued an identification card under § 27-16-805, who is a citizen
 of the United States, eighteen (18) years of age or older, and a resident of
 the State of Arkansas and of the county in which he or she may be summoned
 for jury service is legally qualified to act as a grand or petit juror if not
 otherwise disqualified under the express provisions of this act.
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        SECTION 2.       Arkansas Code § 16-32-103 is amended to read as follows:
        16-32-103.       Master list.
        (a)    During the month of November or December of each year, the
 prospective jurors for the following calendar year shall be selected from
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 among the current list of registered voters licensed drivers of the
 applicable district or county in the following manner:
                (1)   The circuit judge, in the presence of the circuit clerk,
 shall select at random a number between one (1) and one hundred (100),
 inclusive, which shall be the starting number, and the circuit court shall
 then select the person whose name appears on the current voter registration
 list of licensed drivers in that numerical position, counting sequentially
 from the first name on the list;
                (2)   The circuit clerk shall then select the one hundredth voter
 registrant licensed driver appearing on the list after the starting number.
 As an example, if the starting number is sixty-seven (67), which is the first
 selection, the second selection would be the one hundred sixty-seventh
 registered voter licensed driver, the third selection would be the two
 hundred sixty-seventh registered voter licensed driver, and so forth until
 the current registered voter licensed driver list is exhausted; and
                (3)   The circuit judge and the circuit clerk shall then repeat
 the random selection process until the number of jurors set out in this
 subsection have been selected.
        (b)   The number of persons to be selected shall be based upon the
 number of qualified registered voters licensed drivers in the appropriate
 district or county as reflected by the current list of registered voters
 licensed drivers provided by the county clerk under legal requirements
 Department of Finance and Administration and, unless a larger number is
 designated by the circuit judge, the minimum number selected shall be as
 follows:
 _____________________________________________________________________________
 Number of                        Minimum Number                Minimum Number
 Registered Voters                of Prospective                of Prospective
 Licensed Drivers                 Petit Jurors                  Grand Jurors
 _____________________________________________________________________________
 90,000 or more                   1,200                                      120
 16,000 to 89,999                 1,000                                      100
 10,000 to 15,999                   800                                        90
 6,000 to     9,999                 600                                        75
 2,000 to     5,999                 500                                        75
 0 to   1,999                       250 or 50% of
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                                      the registered voters licensed drivers,
                                      whichever is smaller
        (c)(1)     After the list of prospective jurors has been submitted by the
 circuit clerk, the circuit judge may, in the exercise of his or her
 discretion, authorize clerical assistance in preparing the alphabetized
 master list and separate cards, chips, disks, or other appropriate means of
 including the names and addresses of the prospective jurors in the wheel or
 box.
                 (2)   The expense of this clerical help shall be paid by the
 county as an expense of the administration of justice.
                 (3)   Clerical employees shall take the following oath:
 “I will not make known to anyone the names of the prospective jurors who have
 been selected and I will not, directly or indirectly, converse with anyone
 selected as a juror concerning the merits of any proceeding pending or likely
 to come before the grand jury or court until after the case is tried or
 otherwise finally disposed of.”
        (d)   Subsections (a)-(c) of this section shall be applicable to all
 circuit courts and counties within the state that are not using a
 computerized random jury selection process.
        (e)(1)(A)      All circuit clerks who maintain on computers voter
 registration licensed drivers lists or the enhanced list of prospective
 jurors authorized by § 16-32-302, whether in-house or contracted, may utilize
 the computers and associated equipment for the purpose of selecting jury
 panels from the voter registration licensed drivers lists or the enhanced
 list of prospective jurors instead of compiling a master list under
 subsections (a)-(c) of this section if the computer program is capable of
 randomly selecting names for the jury panels from the voter registration
 licensed drivers lists or enhanced list of prospective jurors.
                        (B)   If the computer program is not capable of randomly
 selecting names for the jury panels from the voter registration licensed
 drivers lists or enhanced list of prospective jurors, the clerks may use the
 computers and associated equipment for the purpose of creating the master
 list under subsections (a)-(c) of this section.
                 (2)   The master list of jurors' names and addresses shall not be
 available for public inspection, publication, or copying, but it may be
 examined in the presence of the circuit judge by litigants or their attorneys
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 who desire to verify that names drawn from the wheel or box were placed there
 in the manner provided in this act by the commissioners.
            (3)(A)     In counties where jury selection is conducted by a
 computerized random process, the source list of potential jurors' names and
 addresses shall not be available for public inspection, publication, or
 copying.
                     (B)   The source list may be examined in the presence of the
 circuit judge by litigants or their attorneys who desire to verify that names
 randomly selected by computer were selected from the list.
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      SECTION 3.     Arkansas Code § 16-32-104(b), concerning the jury wheel or
 box, is amended to read as follows:
      (b)   The courts are authorized to use a computer program that is
 capable of random selection of names from the list of registered voters
 licensed drivers or the enhanced list of prospective jurors authorized under
 § 16-32-302 instead of maintaining the jury wheel or box required under
 subdivisions (a)(1)-(4) of this section.
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      SECTION 4.     Arkansas Code § 16-32-108(2)(A), concerning additional
 jurors, is amended to read as follows:
            (2)(A)     The circuit judge may direct the circuit clerk who
 selected the original names placed in the jury wheel or box to submit the
 names and last known addresses of additional registered voters licensed
 drivers whom the circuit clerk shall select in the manner provided by § 16-
 32-103(a)-(d).
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      SECTION 5.     Arkansas Code § 16-32-109(a)(2)(A), concerning selection of
 trial juror upon challenge by litigant, is amended to read as follows:
            (2)(A)     If the trial judge sustains the challenge to the use of
 names in the jury wheel or box for the drawing of trial jurors, he or she
 shall instruct the circuit clerk to select such a number of persons as the
 trial judge may designate from the current voter registration licensed
 drivers list in the manner provided by § 16-32-103(a)-(d).
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      SECTION 6.     Arkansas Code § 16-32-201(a)(2)(B), concerning the
 selection of grand jury, is amended to read as follows:
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               (B)   In the event the circuit judge directs the circuit clerk to
 provide the minimum number of names for a separate grand jury wheel or box,
 the circuit clerk shall select the names of persons whom the circuit clerk
 believes to be qualified from the current voter registration licensed drivers
 list or the enhanced prospective juror list authorized by § 16-32-302.
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      SECTION 7.      Arkansas Code § 16-32-301 is amended to read as follows:
      16-32-301.      Enhanced prospective juror pool.
      (a)    The pool of names from which prospective jurors are chosen may be
 expanded from the list of registered voters licensed drivers to include the
 list of licensed drivers registered voters and persons issued an
 identification card under § 27-16-805.
      (b)    The qualifications for serving on a jury under § 16-31-101 and the
 disqualifications under § 16-31-102 shall apply to the enhanced prospective
 juror pool permitted under subsection (a) of this section.
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      SECTION 8.      Arkansas Code § 16-32-302(b)(1), concerning an enhanced
 list of prospective jurors, is amended to read as follows:
      16-32-302.      Enhanced list of prospective jurors.
      (b)(1)     The Secretary of State shall receive from the Department of
 Finance and Administration and county clerk and the Department of Finance and
 administration at mutually agreeable times each year a list of all licensed
 drivers, registered voters, and persons issued identification cards under §
 27-16-805 who are citizens of the United States and sixteen (16) years of age
 or older.
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      SECTION 9.      Arkansas Code § 16-32-303(a), concerning judicial
 determination of need for an expanded list, is amended to read as follows:
      (a)    The administrative circuit judge for each county shall determine
 that either the list of registered voters licensed drivers or the enhanced
 list, but not both, shall be utilized in the selection of all prospective
 jurors for all circuit court divisions within the county, based upon a
 consideration of whether the use of registered voters licensed drivers
 creates a sufficient pool for the selection of jurors to offer an adequate
 cross section of the community.
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Statutes affected: 
HB 1367: 16-31-101, 27-16-805, 16-32-103, 16-32-302, 16-32-104(b), 16-32-108(2), 16-32-109(a), 16-32-201(a), 16-32-301, 16-31-102, 16-32-302(b), 16-32-303(a)