Senate Bill No. 311
(By Senators Kessler, Plymale, Love and Oliverio)
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[Introduced January 23, 2008; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §52-1-14 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to authorizing judges to order
jurors be drawn from another county or counties when jurors
cannot be seated from the county in which the trial will be
held.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §52-1-14 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. PETIT JURIES.
§52-1-14. When and how jurors are to be summoned from
other a
county to serve in another county.
(a) In any criminal case in any court, if in the opinion of
the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, qualified jurors, not
exempt from serving, cannot be conveniently found in the county in
which the trial is to be held, the court, or the judge thereof in
vacation, judge of the court shall enter an order of record to such
effect and may cause so directing as many jurors as may be necessary to be summoned from any other county or counties. In
such order the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall fix
a day on which the jurors shall be required to attend and in the
order shall indicate the county from which the jurors shall be
drawn and the number of jurors to be drawn. An attested copy of
the order shall be certified to the circuit court of the county
designated, or the judge thereof in vacation, and thereupon such
circuit court or the judge thereof in vacation, shall, by order,
direct that a jury be drawn
(b) The court order shall include the following:
(1) The date on which the jurors are required to attend;
(2) The county or counties from which the jurors shall be
drawn;
(3) The number of jurors to be drawn.
(c) The judge issuing the order shall direct his or her
circuit clerk to forward a certified copy of the order to the
circuit clerk in the county or counties from which the jurors are
to be drawn.
(d) The circuit clerk of the court conducting the drawing
shall do so in the manner provided by law for the drawing of petit
jurors. and proceedings respecting the drawing of the jurors,
including the names of the jurors so drawn, The circuit clerk
shall draw a separate jury pool specifically designated for the
purpose of complying with the court order. The proceedings for
drawing the jurors and the names of the jurors drawn shall be
certified by the clerk of the circuit court of the county or counties designated to conduct the drawing and a copy of the
certification shall be forwarded to the clerk of the circuit court
wherein in the county where the trial is to be held. Thereupon,
After forwarding a copy of the certification, the clerk of the
circuit court of the county or counties from which the jurors are
to be were drawn shall summon the jurors to appear, in the manner
provided in section nine of this article, the jurors so drawn to
attend for jury service in the county wherein where the trial is to
be held, pursuant to the provisions of section nine of this
article.
(e) Jurors summoned from a county to serve in another county
shall be reimbursed or compensated by the county for which the
juror actually served.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow judges in
particular instances to order jurors from another county or
counties to be summoned to ensure an adequate jury pool.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.