CHAPTER 61. GENERAL PROVISIONS
GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 2. JUDICIAL BRANCH
SUBTITLE E. JURIES
CHAPTER 61. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 61.001. REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES OF JURORS AND PROSPECTIVE
JURORS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who
reports for jury service in response to the process of a court is
entitled to receive as reimbursement for travel and other
expenses an amount:
(1) not less than $6 for the first day or fraction of the first
day the person is in attendance in court in response to the
process and discharges the person's duty for that day; and
(2) not less than $40 for each day or fraction of each day the
person is in attendance in court in response to the process after
the first day and discharges the person's duty for that day.
(b) In preparing and approving the annual budget for a county,
the commissioners court of the county shall determine the daily
amount of reimbursement for expenses for a person who reports for
jury service and discharges the person's duty. The amount of
reimbursement for each day must be within the minimum and maximum
amounts prescribed by this section and paid out of the jury fund
of the county. The commissioners court may set different daily
amounts of reimbursement for:
(1) grand and petit jurors; or
(2) different petit jurors based on:
(A) whether a juror serves in a small claims court, justice
court, constitutional county court, county court at law, or
district court; or
(B) any other reasonable criteria determined by the
commissioners court.
(c) A person who reports for jury service in a municipal court
is not entitled to reimbursement under this chapter, but the
municipality may provide reimbursement for expenses to the person
in an amount to be determined by the municipality.
(d) In a specific case, the presiding judge, with the agreement
of the parties involved or their attorneys, may increase the
daily amount of reimbursement for a person who reports for jury
service in that case. The difference between the usual daily
amount of reimbursement and the daily amount of reimbursement for
a person who reports for jury service in a specific case shall be
paid, in equal amounts, by the parties involved in the case.
(e) A check drawn on the jury fund by the district clerk of the
county may be transferred by endorsement and delivery and is
receivable at par from the holder for all county taxes.
(f) A reimbursement for expenses under this section is not a
property right of a person who reports for jury service for
purposes of Chapters 72 and 74, Property Code. If a check,
instrument, or other method of payment authorized under Section
113.048, Local Government Code, representing a reimbursement
under this section is not presented for payment or redeemed
before the 90th day after it is issued:
(1) the instrument or other method of payment is considered
forfeited and is void; and
(2) the money represented by the instrument or other method of
payment may be placed or retained in the county's jury fund, the
county's general fund, or any other fund in which county funds
can be legally placed, at the discretion of the commissioners
court.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 480, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, Sec. 2.79(a), eff.
Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 64, Sec. 1, eff. Aug.
30, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 758, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1119, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999;
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1136, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1360, Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2006.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1378, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
734, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 61.0011. DEFINITION OF PERSON WHO REPORTS FOR JURY SERVICE.
In this chapter, the term "person who reports for jury service"
means a person who reports in person for duty on a grand jury or
a petit jury, regardless of whether the person is selected to
serve on the jury.
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1378, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 61.0015. REIMBURSEMENT TO COUNTY. (a) The state shall
reimburse a county $34 a day for the reimbursement paid under
Section 61.001 to a person who reports for jury service in
response to the process of a court for each day or fraction of
each day after the first day in attendance in court in response
to the process.
(b) The commissioners court of a county entitled to
reimbursement under this section may file a claim for
reimbursement with the comptroller.
(c) The comptroller shall pay claims for reimbursement under
this section quarterly to the county treasury of each county that
filed a claim from money collected under Article 102.0045, Code
of Criminal Procedure, and deposited in the jury service fund.
(d) If sufficient money described by Subsection (c) is not
available to satisfy the claims for reimbursement filed by the
counties under this section, the comptroller shall apportion the
available money among the counties by reducing the amount payable
to each county on an equal percentage basis.
(e) If a payment on a county's claim for reimbursement is
reduced under Subsection (d), or if a county fails to file the
claim for reimbursement in a timely manner, the comptroller
shall:
(1) pay the balance owed to the county when sufficient money
described by Subsection (c) is available; or
(2) carry forward the balance owed to the county and pay the
balance to the county when the next payment is required.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1360, Sec. 2, eff. January 1, 2006.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1378, Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 61.002. LIABILITY OF COUNTIES FOR PAYMENT OF JURY SERVICE.
(a) If a civil case is moved by change of venue and tried in
another county by a jury, the county in which the case was
originally filed is liable for the payment of persons who report
for jury service for the case.
(b) The commissioners court shall determine at each regular
meeting if a civil case was tried by a jury in the county on a
change of venue from another county since its last regular
meeting.
(c) The commissioners court shall prepare an account against
another county that is liable for the payment of persons who
report for jury service in a case transferred on a change of
venue. The account must show the number of days that each person
who reported for jury service was in attendance in court in
response to the process and discharged the person's duty and the
amount paid as reimbursement under this chapter in the case.
(d) The county judge of the county in which the case was tried
shall certify the correctness of the account and forward it for
payment from the jury fund of the county in which the case was
originally filed.
(e) This section does not apply to a civil case transferred by
an order of the court based on a motion objecting to improper
venue in the case under Rule 86, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 480, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1378, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 61.003. DONATION OF REIMBURSEMENT. (a) Each person who
reports for jury service shall be personally provided a form
letter that when signed by the person directs the county
treasurer to donate all, or a specific amount designated by the
person, of the person's daily reimbursement under this chapter
to:
(1) the compensation to victims of crime fund under Subchapter
B, Chapter 56, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) the child welfare, child protective services, or child
services board of the county appointed under Section 264.005,
Family Code, that serves abused and neglected children;
(3) any program selected by the commissioners court that is
operated by a public or private nonprofit organization and that
provides shelter and services to victims of family violence; or
(4) any other program approved by the commissioners court of the
county, including a program established under Article 56.04(f),
Code of Criminal Procedure, that offers psychological counseling
to jurors in criminal cases involving graphic evidence or
testimony.
(a-1) The form letter provided under Subsection (a) must include
a blank in which a person may enter the amount of the daily
reimbursement the person wishes to donate.
(a-2) The form letter provided under Subsection (a) must contain
a brief description of the programs designated for donation under
that subsection.
(b) The county treasurer or a designated county employee shall
collect each form letter directing the county treasurer to donate
the reimbursement of a person who reports for jury service.
(c) The county treasurer shall:
(1) send all donations made under Subsection (a)(1) to the
comptroller, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the
attorney general, for deposit to the credit of the compensation
to victims of crime fund;
(2) deposit donations made to the county child welfare board
under Subsection (a)(2) in a fund established by the county to be
used by the child welfare board in a manner authorized by the
commissioners court of the county; and
(3) send all donations made under Subsection (a)(3) or (a)(4)
directly to the program specified on the form letter signed by
the person who reported for jury service.
(d) Notwithstanding this section, a juror reimbursement donation
program established before January 1, 1995, may solicit juror
donations and provide all funds collected in the name of that
program to the charities served by that program on January 1,
1995.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a county that has adopted a
system or method of payment authorized by Section 113.048, Local
Government Code, may provide a person who reports for jury
service in the county an opportunity to donate all, or a specific
part designated by the juror, of the juror's daily reimbursement
by completing a self-executing application on a form prescribed
by the commissioners court.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 329, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 875, Sec. 1, eff.
Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1313, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.
1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 8.01, eff. Sept. 1,
1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 41, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
661, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
1378, Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
87, Sec. 11.001, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
235, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
235, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
734, Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2009.