House Bill 3419

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 3419

        By Representative Minton






  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.

  6

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

  8

  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 jury trials, the board of county commissioners may

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

18  district for each courthouse location, from which jury lists

19  shall be selected in the manner presently provided by law, and

20  the chief judge shall grant such a request so long as the

21  board of county commissioners agrees to assume capital and

22  operational costs associated with the jury district.

23         (2)(1)  In any county having a population exceeding

24  50,000 according to the last preceding decennial census and

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

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

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

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

29  district for each courthouse location, from which jury lists

30  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                HB 3419

    541-142A-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 registered voters.

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

  7  law.

  8

  9            *****************************************

10                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Provides that in any county that wholly contains one
12    judicial circuit and that has one or more locations in
      addition to the county seat at which the county or
13    circuit court sits and holds jury trials, the board of
      county commissioners may request the chief judge of the
14    circuit court to create a jury district for each
      courthouse location, from which jury lists shall be
15    selected in the manner provided by law, and the chief
      judge shall grant such a request provided that the board
16    of county commissioners agrees to assume capital and
      operational expenses of the jury district.
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