H 4487 General Bill, By W.J. Young, Bailey, J.L. Harris, Harrison, H.G. Hutson, 
Kelley, M.H. Kinon, L.M. Martin, J.T. McElveen, P.H. Thomas and S.S. Wofford
 A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Section
 14-7-815 so as to provide that the Supreme Court by rule, with the assistance
 of the office of Court Administration, shall develop a juror qualification
 form which shall be mailed or delivered by the clerk of court or other court
 official to each prospective juror along with his summons for jury duty, to
 require the prospective juror to fill out the juror qualification form and
 state any known disqualification thereon, and to provide the procedures
 whereby the names of jurors stating a disqualification shall be deleted from
 the list of jurors for a particular term of court; and to amend Section
 14-7-810, relating to disqualification for jury service, so as to require a
 person called to jury service to state any disqualifications on his juror
 qualification form.

   01/24/96  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-11
   01/24/96  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-11

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 14-7-815 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE SUPREME COURT BY RULE, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION, SHALL DEVELOP A JUROR QUALIFICATION FORM WHICH SHALL BE MAILED OR DELIVERED BY THE CLERK OF COURT OR OTHER COURT OFFICIAL TO EACH PROSPECTIVE JUROR ALONG WITH HIS SUMMONS FOR JURY DUTY, TO REQUIRE THE PROSPECTIVE JUROR TO FILL OUT THE JUROR QUALIFICATION FORM AND STATE ANY KNOWN DISQUALIFICATIONS THEREON, AND TO PROVIDE THE PROCEDURES WHEREBY THE NAMES OF JURORS STATING A DISQUALIFICATION SHALL BE DELETED FROM THE LIST OF JURORS FOR A PARTICULAR TERM OF COURT; AND TO AMEND SECTION 14-7-810, RELATING TO DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR JURY SERVICE, SO AS TO REQUIRE A PERSON CALLED TO JURY SERVICE TO STATE ANY DISQUALIFICATIONS ON HIS JUROR QUALIFICATION FORM.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 14-7-815. (A)(1) The Supreme Court by rule, with the assistance of the Office of Court Administration, shall develop a juror qualification form which shall be mailed or delivered by the clerk of court or other court official to each prospective juror in the courts of this State along with his summons for jury duty. The juror qualification form shall be accompanied by instructions to fill out and return the form by mail or delivery to the clerk or summoning official within ten days after its receipt. The purpose of the form is to determine the juror's eligibility to serve.

(2) The juror qualification form shall contain the prospective juror's signed declaration that his responses are true to the best of his knowledge and his acknowledgment that a wilful misrepresentation of a material fact may be punished as a contempt of the summoning court. Notarization of the juror qualification form shall not be required.

(3) If the prospective juror is unable to fill out the form, another person may do it for him and shall indicate that he has done so and the reason therefor.

(4) Any prospective juror who fails to return a properly completed juror qualification form within the time required and as instructed may be directed by the court to appear forthwith to fill out a juror qualification form. At the time of his appearance, the prospective juror may be questioned by the court in regard to his responses to questions contained on the form and grounds for his disqualification. Any information thus acquired shall be noted on the juror qualification form.

(5) A prospective juror who fails to appear as directed by the court pursuant to item (4) of this subsection shall be ordered to appear and show cause for his failure to appear as directed. If the prospective juror fails to appear pursuant to the court's order or fails to show good cause for his failure to appear as directed by the court, he may be punished for contempt.

(6) No person shall wilfully misrepresent a material fact on a juror qualification form.

(7) The contents of juror qualification forms shall be made available to parties or their attorneys of record unless the court determines in any instance in the interest of justice that this information should be kept confidential or its use limited in whole or in part.

(B)(1) The presiding judge of the summoning court shall determine on the basis of the information provided on the juror qualification form whether the prospective juror is disqualified for jury service for any of the reasons listed in item (2) of this subsection. He shall enter this determination in the space provided on the juror qualification form and in an appropriate space on the list of names of jurors summoned for jury duty for that term of court. The presiding judge shall cause disqualified jurors to be immediately notified of their disqualification and they shall not be required to appear in court. In the event the judge cannot determine if a juror should be disqualified, the judge shall require the prospective juror to appear in court at the appropriate time with the other summoned jurors for the purpose of making a final determination.

(2) A prospective juror is disqualified to serve on a jury if he:

(a) is under eighteen years of age;

(b) is not a citizen of the United States;

(c) is disqualified for one of the reasons enumerated in Section 14-7-810;

(d) is disqualified for other reasons provided by law.

(3) There shall be no waiver of these disqualifications.

(C) The provisions of this section do not apply to any person who is eligible to be excused from jury service as provided by law and such excusals shall continue to be granted in the manner provided by law."

SECTION 2. Section 14-7-810 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 14-7-810. In addition to any other provision of law, no person is qualified to serve as a juror in any court in this State if:

(1) He has been convicted in a state or federal court of record of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and his civil rights have not been restored by pardon or amnesty.

(2) He is unable to read, write, speak, or understand the English language.

(3) He is incapable by reason of mental or physical infirmities to render efficient jury service. Legal blindness does not disqualify an otherwise qualified juror.

(4) He has less than a sixth grade education or its equivalent.

Any person called to jury service who knows or has good reason to suspect that he is disqualified under this section, upon questioning by the trial judge, hearing officer, or clerk of court, must state the disqualifying facts or the reasons for his suspicions on his juror qualification form and any failure to do so is punishable as contempt of court. The trial judge must make the final determination of the qualifications of a juror as set out in this section and his decision must not be disturbed on appeal."

SECTION 3. This act takes effect on January 1, 1997.