SPONSOR: Veit
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Judiciary by a vote of 9 to 0. Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Rules-Legislative by a vote of 8 to 0 with 1 present.
This bill specifies that each grand and petit juror will receive at least $6 per day for every day the juror actually serves and a mileage reimbursement rate as provided by law for state employees. Each county and the City of St. Louis may authorize additional compensation for its jurors. Alternatively, a governing body, as specified in the bill, may, by a majority vote, vote to restructure juror compensation so that grand and petit jurors do not get paid for the first two days of service but thereafter will receive $50 per day, as well as mileage reimbursement at the rate provided by law for state employees for necessary travel from the juror's residence to the courthouse and back, to be paid by the county.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this bill has been heard for several years, but it stalls every year. This bill allows the county commission to choose an alternative payment scheme for jurors. Under the alternative, jurors would get paid $50 a day for the third or subsequent day but they would not get paid for the first two days of service. This has been tried in Greene County and it has worked out really well for the better part of ten years. The bill took the amount used in Greene County and made it applicable statewide. It is meant to accommodate the lengthy trials. It is also a Supreme Court priority bill. This also makes the mileage reimbursement dynamic and in line with what is reimbursed for state employees.
Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Veit; Eric Jennings, Judicial Conference of Missouri; Jon Beetem; The Missouri Bar; Arnie Dienoff.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: