STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2010

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2187

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2187 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JURY DUTY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Decrease the distance that a person must live from the court to be exempt from jury service from seventy miles to fifty-five miles; and

     (2)  Increase the mileage fee paid to jurors and prospective jurors from 33 cents to 45 cents.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Judiciary.

     Your Committee finds that this measure proposes to make amendments to jury service laws.  The Judiciary raised concerns in its written testimony that decreasing the distance a person must live from a court in order to be exempt from jury service will significantly impact the Third Circuit's ability to obtain an adequate number of potential jurors on the island of Hawaii.  If the required distance is lowered, the Judiciary testified that there will be pockets of jurors who may be exempt from jury service in both Hilo and Kona because a person may live more than fifty-five miles from the two circuit court forums.

     Your Committee also has questions regarding the method by which mileage fees are paid to jurors and prospective jurors if there are different routes, each with different distances, that jurors and prospective jurors could take to report to the court house for jury service.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an unspecified number of miles a person must live from the court to be exempt from jury service; and

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2187, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2187, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair