House Bill 3419c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 3419

        By the Committee on Civil Justice & Claims and
    Representatives Minton and Bradley





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to juries; amending s. 40.015,

  3         F.S.; providing a method for establishing jury

  4         districts, boundaries; providing an effective

  5         date.

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  7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  9         Section 1.  Section 40.015, Florida Statutes, is

10  amended to read:

11         40.015  Jury districts; counties containing one

12  judicial circuit; counties exceeding 50,000.--

13         (1)  In any county that wholly contains one judicial

14  circuit and that has one or more locations in addition to the

15  county seat at which the county or circuit court sits and

16  holds trials, the board of county commissioners may request

17  the chief judge of the circuit court to create a jury district

18  for each courthouse location, at which jury trials will be

19  conducted and lists shall be selected in the manner presently

20  provided by law, and the chief judge shall grant such a

21  request provided that the board of county commissioners agrees

22  to assume capital and operational costs associated with the

23  jury district.

24         (2)(1)  In any county having a population exceeding

25  50,000 according to the last preceding decennial census and

26  one or more locations in addition to the county seat at which

27  the county or circuit court sits and holds jury trials, the

28  chief judge, with the approval of a majority of the circuit

29  court judges of the circuit, is authorized to create a jury

30  district for each courthouse location, from which jury lists

31  shall be selected in the manner presently provided by law.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998             CS/HB 3419

    686-128-98






  1         (3)(2)  In determining the boundaries of a jury

  2  district to serve the court located within the district, the

  3  chief judge or the board shall seek to avoid any exclusion of

  4  any cognizable group.  Each jury district shall include at

  5  least 6,000 licensed drivers registered voters.

  6         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  7  law.

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