Sen. Iris Y. Martinez
Filed: 3/17/2014
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1 | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 977
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 977 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Jury Act is amended by changing Section 2 | ||||||
5 | as follows:
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6 | (705 ILCS 305/2) (from Ch. 78, par. 2)
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7 | Sec. 2.
At the September meeting of the county board in | ||||||
8 | each year in the
respective counties in this State, except | ||||||
9 | those that have
jury
commissioners, the board shall select from | ||||||
10 | the
list
the number of persons
as the judges of the circuit | ||||||
11 | courts, to be held in the county
during the
succeeding year, | ||||||
12 | may by joint action determine to serve as petit jurors. In
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13 | counties having jury commissioners, the persons to serve as | ||||||
14 | petit jurors
shall be selected by the jury commissioners, as | ||||||
15 | provided by law. County
boards, a jury administrator,
and jury
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16 | commissioners may utilize
the services of the
Administrative |
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1 | Office of the Illinois Courts in making these selections.
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2 | Jurors in all counties in Illinois must have the legal | ||||||
3 | qualifications
herein prescribed. Jurors must be:
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4 | (1) Inhabitants of the county.
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5 | (2) Of the age of 18 years or upwards.
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6 | (3) Free from all legal exception, of fair character, of
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7 | approved
integrity, of sound judgment, well informed, and able | ||||||
8 | to understand
the English language, whether in spoken or | ||||||
9 | written form , or interpreted into
sign language , or, if English | ||||||
10 | is not the juror's predominant language, interpreted or | ||||||
11 | translated into the juror's predominant language .
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12 | (4) Citizens of the United States of America.
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13 | (Source: P.A. 90-482, eff. 1-1-98.)
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14 | Section 10. The Jury Secrecy Act is amended by changing | ||||||
15 | Section 1 as follows:
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16 | (705 ILCS 315/1) (from Ch. 78, par. 36)
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17 | Sec. 1.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever | ||||||
18 | knowingly
and wilfully, by any device or means whatsoever
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19 | records or attempts to record, the proceedings of a petit jury | ||||||
20 | in any court
of the State of Illinois while the jury is | ||||||
21 | deliberating or voting,
or
listens to or observes, or attempts | ||||||
22 | to listen to or observe, the
proceedings of any petit jury of | ||||||
23 | which he is not a member in any court of
the State of Illinois | ||||||
24 | while the jury is deliberating or voting,
shall be
guilty of a |
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1 | Class A misdemeanor.
However, if any juror is deaf or hard of | ||||||
2 | hearing or any juror's predominant language is not English , the | ||||||
3 | juror may be
accompanied by and may communicate with a court | ||||||
4 | appointed interpreter
throughout any period during which the | ||||||
5 | jury is sequestered or engaged in its
deliberations.
If the | ||||||
6 | jury foreman reasonably
believes that the interpreter is doing | ||||||
7 | more than interpreting, nothing in this
Act shall prevent him | ||||||
8 | or her from petitioning the court and requesting that the
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9 | interpreter be replaced with another interpreter.
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10 | (b) A petit juror in any court of the State of Illinois
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11 | shall be entitled to take notes in
connection with and solely | ||||||
12 | for the purpose of assisting him in the
performance of his | ||||||
13 | duties as juror, and the sheriff of the county
in which such | ||||||
14 | juror is serving shall provide writing materials for that
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15 | purpose. Such notes shall remain confidential, and shall be | ||||||
16 | destroyed by
the sheriff after the verdict has been returned or | ||||||
17 | a mistrial declared.
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18 | (Source: P.A. 88-27.)".
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