Senate Bill No. 470

(By Senators Cookman, Miller, Snyder, Fitzsimmons, Williams, D. Hall and Stollings)

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[Introduced February 3, 2014; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §52-2-16, relating to grand jury juror questionnaire forms; protecting the information contained in the forms; and requiring written permission of the circuit court to release the questionnaires.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §52-2-16, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. GRAND JURIES.

§52-2-16. Juror questionnaires; judicial approval required for release of forms.

    Completed juror questionnaire forms for persons called for or serving as grand jurors are confidential and may only be released from the custody of the clerk with the written permission of the circuit court.

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    (NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that completed grand jury questionnaire forms are confidential and may only be released from the custody of the clerk with the written permission of the circuit court.

    This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.)