Rep. Dwight Kay

Filed: 3/20/2014

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB4969ham001LRB098 16582 HEP 56921 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4969

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4969 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section
54-11001.5 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/4-11001.5 new)
7    Sec. 4-11001.5. Lengthy Trial Fund.
8    (a) The Lengthy Trial Fund is established as a special fund
9in the State treasury. Moneys in the Lengthy Trial Fund shall
10be used to provide full or partial wage replacement or wage
11supplementation to jurors who serve as petit jurors for more
12than 10 days.
13    (b) The Supreme Court shall adopt rules providing for the
14following:
15        (1) the selection and appointment of an administrator
16    for the Fund;

 

 

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1        (2) procedures for its administration that provide
2    that moneys in the Fund shall be used to make wage
3    replacement or wage supplementation as provided in this
4    Section to jurors participating on juries in trials where
5    jury service extends 11 days or longer and to recover all
6    the costs of administering the Fund, including payments of
7    salaries of the administrator and other necessary
8    personnel;
9        (3) the accounting, auditing, and investment of moneys
10    in the Lengthy Trial Fund in accordance with State law
11    pertaining to similar funds; and
12        (4) the inclusion of a report by the Supreme Court on
13    the administration of the Lengthy Trial Fund in its annual
14    report on the judicial branch, setting forth the moneys
15    collected for and disbursed from the Fund.
16    (c) Notwithstanding any other fees payable under the laws
17of this State, the clerk of the circuit court shall collect for
18each new filing in a civil case, unless otherwise exempted
19under this Section, a fee of $10 per case for deposit into the
20Lengthy Trial Fund. A new filing is deemed to have been made at
21the time in an action that the first pleading or other filing
22on which an individual's or attorney's name appears is
23submitted to the court for filing. The clerk of the circuit
24court shall forward all fees collected under this subsection
25(c) to the administrator of the Lengthy Trial Fund for deposit.
26    (d) The administrator shall, on or before the 15th day of

 

 

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1each month, transmit all moneys received from any clerk of the
2circuit court to the State Treasurer for deposit into the
3Lengthy Trial Fund.
4    (e) The administrator shall use the fees deposited in the
5Lengthy Trial Fund to pay replacement or supplemental wages
6under subsection (g) to jurors whose employers pay less than
7full regular wages.
8    (f) Not more than 3% of the moneys in the Lengthy Trial
9Fund may be used for the reasonable and necessary costs of
10administering the Fund.
11    (g) The court may pay replacement or supplemental wages of
12up to $300 per day per juror beginning on the 11th day of jury
13service. In addition, if a juror who qualifies for payment by
14virtue of having served on a jury for more than 10 days, the
15court may, upon finding that the service posed a significant
16financial hardship to a juror, even in light of payments made
17with respect to jury service after the tenth day, award
18replacement or supplemental wages of up to $100 per day from
19the 4th to the 10th day of jury service.
20    (h) A juror who is serving or has served on a jury that
21qualifies for payment from the Lengthy Trial Fund, provided the
22service commenced on or after the effective date of this
23amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, may submit a
24request for payment from the Lengthy Trial Fund on a form that
25the administrator provides. Payment shall be limited to the
26difference between the State-paid jury fee and the actual

 

 

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1amount of wages a juror earns, up to the maximum level payable,
2minus any amount the juror actually receives from the employer
3during the same time period.
4    The request for payment shall disclose the juror's regular
5wages, the amount the employer will pay during the term of jury
6service starting on the 11th day and thereafter, the amount of
7replacement or supplemental wages requested, and any other
8information the administrator deems necessary for proper
9payment.
10    The juror shall also submit verification from the employer
11as to the wage information provided to the administrator, such
12as the employee's most recent earnings statement or a similar
13document, prior to initiation of payment from the Fund.
14    If a juror is self-employed or receives compensation other
15than wages, the juror may provide a sworn affidavit attesting
16to his or her approximate gross weekly income, together with
17any other information that the administrator may require in
18order to verify weekly income.
19    Documents submitted pursuant to this subsection (h) are not
20public records and shall not be disclosed to the general
21public.
22    (i) The following attorneys, persons, cases, claims,
23actions, and filings are exempt from payment of the Lengthy
24Trial Fund fee:
25        (1) government attorneys entering appearances in the
26    course of their official duties;

 

 

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1        (2) pro se litigants;
2        (3) cases in small claims court; or
3        (4) claims seeking disability determinations; child
4    custody and support cases; actions brought in forma
5    pauperis; and any other filings designated by rule that
6    involve minimal use of court resources or that customarily
7    are not afforded the opportunity for a trial by jury.
 
8    Section 10. The Jury Act is amended by changing Sections
94.1, 5, 8, 10.2, and 15 and by adding Section 10.5 as follows:
 
10    (705 ILCS 305/4.1)  (from Ch. 78, par. 4.1)
11    Sec. 4.1. Jury duty; notice to employer; right to time off.
12    (a) Any person who is not legally disqualified to serve on
13juries, and has been duly summoned for jury duty for either
14petit or grand jury service, shall not be required or requested
15to use annual, vacation, or sick leave for time spent
16responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating
17in the jury selection process, or time spent actually serving
18on a jury be given time off from employment to serve upon the
19jury for which such employee is summoned, regardless of the
20employment shift such employee is assigned to at the time of
21service of such summons. An employee shall give his employer
22reasonable notice of required jury service. An employer may not
23deny an employee time off for jury duty because such employee
24is then assigned to work a night shift of employment, that is,

 

 

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1an employer cannot require a night shift worker to work while
2such employee is doing jury duty in the daytime.
3    Nothing in this subsection (a) shall be construed to
4require an employer to provide annual, vacation, or sick leave
5to employees under this Act who otherwise are not entitled to
6such benefits under company policies.
7    (b) No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge,
8intimidate, or otherwise subject or coerce any employee to any
9other adverse employment action by reason of the employee's
10jury service, or the attendance or scheduled attendance in
11connection with such service, in any court of this State.
12    (c) If an employee gives reasonable notice of required jury
13service, any employer who violates the provisions of this
14Section:
15        (1) may be charged with contempt of court. In such an
16    event, the State's Attorney shall file a petition for civil
17    contempt, criminal contempt, or both, against the employer
18    to be prosecuted by the State's Attorney; and
19        (2) shall be liable for damages for any loss of wages
20    or other benefits suffered by an employee by reason of the
21    violation; and
22        (3) may be enjoined from further violations of this
23    Section and ordered to reinstate any employee discharged by
24    reason of jury service.
25    As used in this Section, "reasonable notice of required
26jury service" means that the employee summoned for jury duty

 

 

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1must deliver to the employer a copy of the summons within 10
2days of the date of issuance of the summons to the employee.
3    (d) Any individual who is reinstated to a position of
4employment in accordance with this Section shall be considered
5as having been on furlough or leave of absence during his
6period of jury service, shall be reinstated to his position of
7employment without loss of seniority, and shall be entitled to
8participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the
9employer under established rules and practices relating to
10employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with the
11employer at the time the individual entered upon jury service.
12    (e) In any action or proceeding under this Section, the
13court may award a prevailing employee who brings the action by
14retained counsel a reasonable attorney's fee.
15    (f) Any right or remedy provided in this Section is in
16addition to any right or remedy otherwise provided by law to an
17employee.
18    (g) No employer shall be obligated to compensate an
19employee for time taken off for jury duty.
20    (g-5) The court shall automatically postpone and
21reschedule the service of a summoned juror who is employed by
22an employer with 5 or fewer full-time employees, or the
23equivalent, if another employee of that employer has been
24summoned to appear during the same period. The postponement
25under this subsection does not constitute the excused
26individual's automatic postponement under Section 10.4 of this

 

 

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1Act.
2    (h) The official responsible for issuing the summons may
3advise the juror of his rights under this Act by printed insert
4with the summons or on the summons itself.
5(Source: P.A. 86-1395; 87-616.)
 
6    (705 ILCS 305/5)  (from Ch. 78, par. 5)
7    Sec. 5. Subsequent selections; length of service.
8    (a) At the time of making such selection, the name of the
9person selected shall be checked off from such list, and shall
10not be again selected as a juror till every person named upon
11such list qualified to serve as a juror has been selected; and
12all subsequent selections of jurors by such board shall be made
13from such list until all persons thereon qualified to serve
14have been selected, or until a new list is made: Provided, if
15any person who has been selected as a juror shall not have been
16drawn, or have served upon a jury during the year for which he
17was selected, he shall, if qualified, be selected for the next
18year.
19    (b) In a county with a population greater than 100,000,
20service of prospective petit jurors shall be for no more than
21one court day in actual attendance, unless a prospective petit
22juror is selected to serve in a trial or is under consideration
23to serve on a trial and such consideration covers a period of 2
24or more days. Once selected, a petit juror shall serve on the
25jury for the duration of the trial unless excused by the

 

 

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1presiding judge.
2(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)
 
3    (705 ILCS 305/8)  (from Ch. 78, par. 8)
4    Sec. 8. Drawing names of jurors.
5    (a) Upon a day designated by the judge of the court, which
6shall be at least 20 days before the first day for which any of
7the panel then to be drawn is summoned, the clerk of such court
8shall repair to the office of the county clerk, and in the
9presence of a judge and of such county clerk, after the box
10containing the names has been well shaken by the county clerk,
11and being blindfolded shall, without partiality, draw from such
12box the names of a sufficient number of such persons, then
13residents of the county, not less than 30 for each 2 weeks that
14such court will probably be in session for the trial of common
15law cases, to constitute the petit jurors for the time being
16and where there is an additional judge in such court, a like
17number for each additional judge requiring a jury, unless the
18court shall otherwise order: Provided, that the clerk shall at
19any time, when directed by an order of the court draw in the
20manner above provided, such number of persons then residents of
21the county, as shall be required by the order to act as petit
22jurors in such court for such time as may be fixed in such
23order: And provided, that should the clerk draw from the box
24the name of a person who is known to be dead, to have been
25selected as a grand juror, a non-resident, absent from the

 

 

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1State, unable to attend in consequence of illness, or that he
2is legally disqualified to serve as a juror, the clerk shall
3report the name of such person to the county clerk, and the
4clerk of such court shall draw other names until the required
5number have been selected: Provided, also that whenever there
6is pending for trial in any of the courts, any criminal cause
7wherein the defendant is charged with a felony, and the judge
8holding such court is convinced from the circumstances of the
9case that a jury cannot be obtained from the regular panel to
10try the cause, the judge may in his discretion, prior to the
11day fixed for the trial of the cause, direct the clerk to draw
12(in the same manner as the regular panel is drawn,) not
13exceeding 100 names as a special panel from which a jury may be
14selected to try the cause.
15    (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a),
16names of jurors may be randomly drawn by computer.
17(Source: P.A. 86-1053.)
 
18    (705 ILCS 305/10.2)  (from Ch. 78, par. 10.2)
19    Sec. 10.2. Excusing prospective jurors; hardship.
20    (a) An individual may apply to be excused from jury service
21for a period of up to 24 months, instead of seeking a
22postponement, when either:
23        (1) the prospective juror has a mental or physical
24    condition that causes him or her to be incapable of
25    performing jury service. The juror, or the juror's personal

 

 

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1    representative, must provide the court with documentation
2    from a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its
3    branches verifying that a mental or physical condition
4    renders the person unfit for jury service for a period not
5    less than the 24-month period for which the excuse is
6    sought; or
7        (2) jury service would otherwise cause undue or extreme
8    physical or financial hardship to the prospective juror or
9    a person under his or her care or supervision. A judge of
10    the court for which the individual was called to jury
11    service shall make determinations regarding undue or
12    extreme physical or financial hardship. The authority to
13    make these determinations is delegable only to court
14    officials or personnel who are authorized by the laws of
15    this State to function as members of the judiciary.
16    (b) A person asking to be excused from jury service under
17this Section must take all actions necessary to have obtained a
18ruling on that request by no later than the date on which the
19individual is scheduled to appear for jury duty.
20    (c) For purposes of this Section, "undue or extreme
21physical or financial hardship" is limited to circumstances in
22which an individual would:
23        (1) be required to abandon a person under his or her
24    personal care or supervision due to the impossibility of
25    obtaining reasonable alternative care during the period of
26    participation in the jury pool or on the jury; or

 

 

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1        (2) incur costs that would have a substantial adverse
2    impact on the payment of the individual's necessary daily
3    living expenses or on those for whom he or she provides the
4    principle means of support; or
5        (3) suffer physical hardship that would result in
6    illness or disease.
7    Undue or extreme physical or financial hardship does not
8exist solely based on the fact that a prospective juror is
9required to be absent from his or her place of employment. A
10person asking a judge to grant an excuse based on undue or
11extreme physical or financial hardship shall provide the judge
12with documentation, such as, but not limited to, federal and
13State income tax returns, medical statements from licensed
14physicians, proof of dependency or guardianship, and similar
15documents which the judge finds to clearly support the request
16to be excused. Failure to provide satisfactory documentation
17shall result in a denial of the request to be excused. These
18documents are not public records and shall not be disclosed to
19the general public.
20    (d) After 24 months, a person excused from jury service
21shall become eligible once again for qualification as a juror
22unless the person was excused from service permanently. A
23person is excused from jury service permanently only when the
24deciding judge determines that the underlying grounds for being
25excused are of a permanent nature.
26The county boards of the respective counties, the jury

 

 

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1commissioners for those counties which have been appointed
2under the Jury Commission Act, or a jury administrator shall
3submit questionnaires to prospective jurors to inquire as to
4their qualifications for jury service and as to the hardship
5that jury service would pose to the prospective jurors. Upon
6prior approval by the chief judge of the judicial circuits in
7which a county board, jury administrator, or jury commissioners
8are situated, the county board, jury administrator, or jury
9commissioners shall excuse a prospective juror from jury
10service if the prospective juror shows that such service would
11impose an undue hardship on account of the nature of the
12prospective juror's occupation, business affairs, physical
13health, family situation, active duty in the Illinois National
14Guard or Illinois Naval Militia, or other personal affairs, and
15cause his or her name to be returned to the jury list or
16general jury list.
17    (b) When an undue hardship caused by a family situation is
18due to the prospective juror being the primary care giver of a
19person with a mental or physical disability, a person with a
20medically diagnosed behavior problem, or a child under age 12,
21then the county board, jury commissioners or jury administrator
22shall excuse such a prospective juror, if it finds that no
23reasonable alternative care is feasible which would not impose
24an undue hardship on the prospective juror or the person for
25whom the prospective juror is providing care, or both.
26(Source: P.A. 90-482, eff. 1-1-98; 91-264, eff. 7-23-99.)
 

 

 

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1    (705 ILCS 305/10.5 new)
2    Sec. 10.5. Postponement of jury service.
3    (a) Notwithstanding Section 10.2 or any other provision of
4this Act, an individual scheduled to appear for jury service
5has the right to postpone the date of his or her initial
6appearance for jury service one time only. When requested, a
7postponement shall be granted, provided that:
8        (1) the juror has not previously been granted a
9    postponement;
10        (2) the prospective juror appears in person or contacts
11    the clerk of the court by telephone, electronic mail, or in
12    writing to request a postponement; and
13        (3) prior to the grant of a postponement with the
14    concurrence of the clerk of the court, the prospective
15    juror fixes a date certain on which he or she will appear
16    for jury service that is not more than 6 months after the
17    date on which the prospective juror originally was called
18    to serve and on which date the court will be in session.
19    (b) A subsequent request to postpone jury service may be
20approved by a judicial officer only in the event of an extreme
21emergency, such as a death in the family, sudden illness, or a
22natural disaster or a national emergency in which the
23prospective juror is personally involved and that could not
24have been anticipated at the time the initial postponement was
25granted. Prior to the grant of a second postponement, the

 

 

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1prospective juror must fix a date certain on which the
2individual will appear for jury service within 6 months of the
3postponement on a date when the court will be in session.
 
4    (705 ILCS 305/15)  (from Ch. 78, par. 15)
5    Sec. 15. Penalties for failure to attend. Every person who
6shall fail to attend when lawfully summoned to appear as a
7grand or petit juror, without having properly obtained
8postponement or excuse pursuant to Sections 10.2 and 10.4 a
9reasonable excuse, shall be considered in civil as guilty of a
10contempt, and shall be fined by the courts, respectively, in
11any sum not less than $5 nor more than $500 $100, for the use of
12the proper county, unless good cause be shown for such default;
13and it shall be the duty of the court to enter an order of
14attachment, returnable forthwith, against all such
15delinquents, and upon the return thereof the court shall
16proceed to assess the fine unless the person or persons so
17attached shall show good cause for such delinquency: Provided,
18that the oath or affirmation of any such delinquent shall, at
19all times, be received as competent evidence. In addition to,
20or in lieu of, the fine, the court may order that the
21prospective juror complete a period of community service for a
22period no less than if the prospective juror would have
23completed jury service, and provide proof of completion of this
24community service to the court.
25(Source: P.A. 83-346.)
 

 

 

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1    Section 15. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
2Section 5.855 as follows:
 
3    (30 ILCS 105/5.855 new)
4    Sec. 5.855. The Lengthy Trial Fund.
 
5    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
6severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.".