2024 -- S 2913 | |
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LC005122 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- JURY | |
LISTS | |
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Introduced By: Senator Ana B. Quezada | |
Date Introduced: March 22, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
(Judiciary) | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Sections 9-9-1 and 9-9-1.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 9-9 entitled "Jury |
2 | Lists" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 9-9-1. Persons liable to service — Voting operator’s licenses, Rhode Island |
4 | identification card, state income tax returns and unemployment compensation as evidence. |
5 | (a) A person is liable to serve as a juror if the person is: |
6 | (1) A citizen of the United States; and |
7 | (2) At least eighteen (18) years of age; and |
8 | (3) A resident of Rhode Island who either: |
9 | (i) Resides in the county where the person is registered to vote; |
10 | (ii) Is licensed to operate a motor vehicle within this state; or |
11 | (iii) Possesses a Rhode Island identification card issued pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3- |
12 | 8-6 and 3-8-6.1; or |
13 | (iv) Is an individual filing a state income tax return; or |
14 | (v) Is an individual recipient of unemployment compensation; or |
15 | (vi) Is an individual recipient of public assistance benefits, as defined in § 40-6-1. |
16 | (b) The list of qualified electors of each town and city as made up by the board of |
17 | canvassers thereof, at its last meeting prior to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in |
18 | each even numbered year, and the duly certified records of the administrator of the division of |
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1 | motor vehicles shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of each person to serve as provided in |
2 | this chapter, unless in the case of a qualified elector the name of the person has been removed from |
3 | the list of qualified electors of that town or city on which the name of that person appears prior to |
4 | being summoned to appear in court as a juror, and except as provided in this chapter. The jury |
5 | commissioner shall notify the clerk of the board of canvassers and registration of each particular |
6 | city or town when it appears that a person on a list of qualified jurors does not reside at the address |
7 | on the list. The board of canvassers and registration, after due notice to the person, shall challenge |
8 | the listing thereof and after a hearing thereon may remove that person from the list. |
9 | (c) The division of motor vehicles shall forward to the jury commissioner the names of |
10 | licensed drivers and the names of those persons who possess Rhode Island identification cards |
11 | issued pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3-8-6 and 3-8-6.1 in the state on a yearly basis. |
12 | (d) The division of taxation shall forward to the jury commissioner the names of all |
13 | individuals who have filed a state income tax return, on a yearly basis. |
14 | (e) The department of labor and training shall forward to the jury commissioner the names |
15 | of all individuals who are receiving unemployment compensation, on a yearly basis. |
16 | (f) The department of human services shall forward to the jury commissioner the names of |
17 | all individuals who are receiving public assistance benefits, on a yearly basis. |
18 | 9-9-1.1. Qualifications of jurors. |
19 | (a) A person is qualified to serve as a juror if the person is: |
20 | (1) A citizen of the United States; and |
21 | (2) A resident of Rhode Island who either: |
22 | (i) Resides in the county where the person is registered to vote; or |
23 | (ii) Is licensed to operate a motor vehicle within this state; or |
24 | (iii) Possesses a Rhode Island identification card issued pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3- |
25 | 8-6 and 3-8-6.1; or |
26 | (iv) Is an individual filing a state income tax return; or |
27 | (v) Is an individual recipient of unemployment compensation; or |
28 | (vi) Is an individual recipient of public assistance benefits, as defined in § 40-6-1. |
29 | (3) At least 18 years of age; |
30 | (4) Able to understand and participate in the court proceedings; and |
31 | (5) Physically and mentally capable of performing in a reasonable manner the duties of a |
32 | juror. |
33 | (b) No person shall be allowed to serve as a juror if he or she has been lawfully adjudicated |
34 | to be non compos mentis. |
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1 | (c) No person convicted of a felony shall be allowed to serve as a juror, until completion |
2 | of such felon’s sentence, served or suspended, and of parole or probation regardless of a nolo |
3 | contendere plea. |
4 | (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a)(4) and (5), a person with a disability shall not be |
5 | ineligible to serve as a juror solely on the basis of his or her disability, and if that person meets the |
6 | above requirements, with reasonable accommodations if necessary, he or she shall be deemed a |
7 | qualified juror. |
8 | (e) Nothing in this section shall prevent the court from disqualifying a prospective juror |
9 | because he or she lacks a faculty or has a disability which will prevent the potential juror from |
10 | being a competent juror in a particular case. |
11 | (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit a party’s right to preemptorially |
12 | challenge jurors. |
13 | SECTION 2. Section 40-6-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-6 entitled "Public |
14 | Assistance Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
15 | 40-6-12. Records as to assistance. |
16 | (a) All records pertaining to the administration of public assistance pursuant to this chapter |
17 | and chapter 8 of this title are hereby declared to constitute confidential matter. It shall be unlawful |
18 | for any person to make use of, or cause to be used, any information contained in records for |
19 | purposes not directly connected with the administration thereof, except with the consent of the |
20 | individual concerned. |
21 | (b) The director of the department shall have the power to establish rules and regulations |
22 | governing the custody, use, and preservation of the records, papers, files, and communications |
23 | dealing with the administration of public assistance. The rules and regulations shall have the same |
24 | force and effect as law. The records shall be produced in response to subpoena duces tecum |
25 | properly issued by any federal or state court; provided, however, that the purpose for which the |
26 | subpoena is sought is directly connected with the administration of public assistance. No subpoena |
27 | shall be issued by a court asking either for the records, or for persons having custody or access to |
28 | the records, unless the litigation involved in such matters is directly connected with the |
29 | administration of public assistance. |
30 | (c) Any person, who by law is entitled to a list of individuals receiving any of the assistance |
31 | as provided in this section, shall not publish, or cause to be published, the list except by the express |
32 | consent of the director of the department, or to make use thereof for purposes not directly connected |
33 | with the administration thereof. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section, or the |
34 | lawful rules and regulations made pursuant to this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and |
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1 | shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars ($200) or shall be imprisoned for not more than |
2 | six (6) months, or both. |
3 | (d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the director of the department, or |
4 | his or her agents duly authorized for that purpose, from issuing any statistical material or data, or |
5 | publishing, or causing the data to be published, whenever he or she shall deem it to be in the public |
6 | interest. The director of the department may inquire into the records of any state department or |
7 | agency in the course of his or her administration of public assistance. |
8 | (e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the director of the department, or the director's |
9 | duly authorized agents, from providing the jury commissioner the names and addresses of |
10 | individual recipients of public assistance benefits; provided these records shall be used solely for |
11 | the purpose of compiling the jury lists drawn pursuant to § 9-9-23. |
12 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC005122 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- JURY | |
LISTS | |
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1 | This act would amend the jury list and jury qualification statutes to add individuals |
2 | receiving public assistance benefits to the list of individuals sent to the state's jury commissioner |
3 | on a yearly basis and would authorize the director of the department to provide the records for the |
4 | purpose of compiling jury lists. |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC005122 | |
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