22-5-304 - Selection of names for jury service. [Effective in Certain Counties. See the Compiler
22-5-304. Selection of names for jury service. [Effective in Certain Counties. See the Compilers Notes.]
(a) (1) On Monday, two (2) weeks before each regular or special term of the criminal court or circuit court in counties where such court is held, the board shall unlock the jury box and break the seal thereof, and after well shaking the same, cause to be drawn therefrom in the presence of the board and the clerk, by a child under ten (10) years of age or by a person who is securely blindfolded, that number of names which the presiding judge of the court shall have directed to be drawn, to constitute the regular panel of grand and petit jurors for such term of court.
(2) It is the duty of the judge of such court to notify the board in writing before the time for drawing the panel of the number of names which shall be drawn for such term of court.
(3) In any county having a population over six hundred thousand (600,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census, such board shall permit names to be drawn from the jury box by a person over ten (10) years of age who is legally blind or is securely blindfolded when drawing such names or by a child under ten (10) years of age as provided in subdivision (a)(1).
(4) If the Monday two (2) weeks before the term begins is a legal holiday, the board may meet and perform its function on the following day.
(5) (A) Not more than five (5) days before nor later than the first day of such regular or special term of court, the board shall certify that the names drawn constitute the regular panel of grand and petit jurors for such term of court. During the same time period, the presiding judge of such court shall spread the names of the regular juror panel upon the minutes of the court along with the board's certification of the names of such regular panel, as being accurate and correct. The certification shall be sworn to by at least a majority of such board.
(B) Subdivision (a)(5)(A) shall not apply to counties having a population of not less than sixty-three thousand seven hundred (63,700) nor more than sixty-three thousand eight hundred (63,800), or not less than twenty-eight thousand two hundred (28,200) nor more than twenty-eight thousand three hundred (28,300), or not less than twenty-four thousand two hundred (24,200) nor more than twenty-four thousand three hundred (24,300), or not less than twenty-three thousand four hundred and seventy-five (23,475) nor more than twenty-three thousand five hundred (23,500), nor to counties with a population in excess of six hundred thousand (600,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census.
(b) In the event there is no criminal court for any county to which this chapter applies, then the venire for the circuit court shall be drawn as provided in subsection (a), and in that event subsection (a) shall fully apply to the circuit court.
(c) In the event the name or names of a person or persons known by the commissioners to have died or to have removed from the county shall be drawn, when drawing for either of such courts, the name or names shall be put aside and not used, and another name or names shall be drawn instead. Should the board of jury commissioners, when drawing names from the jury box, overlook the names of persons who have removed from the county, the presiding judge shall have the authority, when such persons are included in a panel and appear in court pursuant to summons, not only to excuse them from jury duty, but also to direct that their names be withdrawn from the jury box.
(d) (1) When the required number of names has been drawn for jury service for either court, the original tickets or cards on which they have been written shall be placed in an envelope and with the original tickets or cards shall be enclosed a report prepared by the clerk of the board to the court signed by the commissioners, a copy of which shall be retained by the clerk for use under the provisions of this chapter, substantially as follows:
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(2) The jury commissioners shall then seal the envelope containing their report and the original tickets or cards, and address the envelope to the judge of the court for which the venire was drawn, and each of the jury commissioners shall write their names across the sealing of the envelope and give it to the clerk of the board, and the clerk of the board shall deliver the same to the court addressed at the opening of the first ensuing term thereof.
(3) The clerk of the court shall carefully preserve the original tickets or cards containing the names of any jurors excused by the court from jury service, together with the tickets or cards mentioned in the last paragraph of the jury commissioners' report, and at the next meeting of the board, the tickets or cards containing the names of jurors excused shall be put back in the jury box and shaken with the other tickets or cards therein before the next venire shall have been drawn; and the tickets or cards containing the names of those mentioned in the last paragraph of the commissioners' report as having died, removed or become disabled or for any other good cause shown shall be destroyed after the clerk notes opposite such names in the jury book the reasons given in the report why the jurors are unable to serve as such.
(4) The several reports of the jury commissioners shall be filed by the clerk of the court where they belong, and safely kept by the clerk as a part of the records of the board.
(e) Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions, if a majority of the circuit and criminal law judges and chancellors holding court in a particular county where names for jury venires are obtained by mechanical or electronic means pursuant to § 22-5-302(d), find that the traditional drawing of names from a jury box to select the members of the regular panel of grand and petit jurors may be dispensed without prejudice to anyone, the judges and chancellors may order that the selection of the regular panel of grand and petit jurors be made by mechanical or electronic means in such a manner as to assure proportionate distribution of names selected without opportunity for the intervention of any human agency to select a particular name. This subsection (e) shall not interfere with the duty of the jury commissioners or presiding judge to remove names from various jury panels as heretofore prescribed.
[Acts 1959, ch. 8, § 6; 1961, ch. 206, § 1; 1967, ch. 182, § 1; 1972, ch. 498, § 1; 1980, ch. 903, § 10; T.C.A., § 22-230; Acts 1981, ch. 82, §§ 1-3; 1983, ch. 108, § 2; 1984, ch. 649, § 1; 2005, ch. 254, § 1; T.C.A. § 22-2-304.]