By: Creighton  S.B. No. 2020
         (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2017; March 27, 2017, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  April 18, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 18, 2017,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2020 By:  Creighton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to voter information used for juror selections.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 62.001(a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h),
  Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The jury wheel must be reconstituted by using, as the
  source:
               (1)  the names of all persons on the current statewide
  voter registration list maintained as required under Section
  18.061, Election Code, [lists] from all the precincts in the
  county; and
               (2)  all names on a current list to be furnished by the
  Department of Public Safety as required by Subsection (f), showing
  the residents [citizens] of the county who:
                     (A)  hold a valid Texas driver's license or a
  valid personal identification card or certificate issued by the
  department; and
                     (B)  are not disqualified from jury service under
  Section 62.102(1), (2), (3), or (8) [(7)].
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the following names [of
  persons listed on a register of persons exempt from jury service]
  may not be placed in the jury wheel:
               (1)  the names of persons listed on a registrar of
  persons exempt from jury service[,] as provided by Sections 62.108
  and 62.109; and
               (2)  the names of persons on the suspense list
  maintained by the voter registrar under Section 15.081, Election
  Code.
         (c)  Each year not later than the third Tuesday in November
  or the date provided by Section 16.032, Election Code, for the
  cancellation of voter registrations, whichever is earlier, the
  voter registrar of each county shall furnish to the secretary of
  state a list of people exempted from jury service under Subsection
  (b) [current voter registration list from all the precincts in the
  county that, except as provided by Subsection (d), includes:
               [(1)     the complete name, mailing address, date of
  birth, voter registration number, and precinct number for each
  voter;
               [(2)     if available, the Texas driver's license number
  or personal identification card or certificate number and social
  security number for each voter; and
               [(3)     any other information included on the voter
  registration list of the county].
         (f)  The Department of Public Safety shall furnish a list to
  the secretary of state that shows the names required under
  Subsection (a)(2) and that contains any [of the] information
  [enumerated in Subsection (c) that is] available to the department
  regarding a person's residential address, mailing address, date of
  birth, Texas driver's license number or personal identification
  card or certificate number, social security number, [including]
  citizenship status, and county of residence. The list shall
  exclude the names of convicted felons, persons who are not citizens
  of the United States, persons residing outside the county, and the
  duplicate name of any registrant. The department shall furnish the
  list to the secretary of state on or before the first Monday in
  October of each year.
         (g)  The secretary of state shall accept the lists furnished
  as provided by Subsections (c) and [(c) through] (f). The secretary
  of state shall combine the list furnished under Subsection (f) with
  the information on the statewide voter registration list maintained
  by the voter registrar as required under Section 18.061, Election
  Code, eliminate duplicate names and names of exempt persons on the
  list provided to the secretary of state under Subsection (c) 
  [lists, eliminate duplicate names], and send the combined list to
  each county on or before December 31 of each year or as may be
  required under a plan developed in accordance with Section 62.011.
  The district clerk or bailiff designated as the officer in charge of
  the jury selection process for a county that has adopted a plan
  under Section 62.011 shall give the secretary of state notice not
  later than the 90th day before the date the list is required. The
  list furnished the county [must be in a format, electronic or
  printed copy, as requested by the county and] must be certified by
  the secretary of state stating that the list contains the names
  required by Subsection (a) and excludes the names of exempt persons
  provided to the secretary of state under Subsection [Subsections
  (c) through] (f), eliminating duplications. The secretary of state
  shall furnish the electronic list free of charge.
         (h)  If the secretary of state is unable to furnish the list
  as provided in this section because of the failure of the voter
  registrar to furnish the information necessary to maintain the
  statewide voter registration list as required under Section 18.061,
  Election Code [county voter registration list to the secretary of
  state], the county tax assessor-collector, sheriff, county clerk,
  and district clerk in the county shall meet at the county courthouse
  between January 1 and January 15 of the following year and shall
  reconstitute the jury wheel for the county, except as provided
  under a plan adopted under Section 62.011.  The deadlines included
  in the plan control for preparing the list and reconstituting the
  wheel. The secretary of state shall send the list furnished by the
  Department of Public Safety as provided by Subsection (f) to the
  voter registrar, who shall combine the lists as described in this
  section for use as the juror source and certify the combined list as
  required of the secretary of state under Subsection (g).
         SECTION 2.  Section 62.011, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
  follows:
         (d)  A state agency or the secretary of state may not charge a
  fee for furnishing an electronic [a] list of names required by
  Section 62.001.
         (e)  The commissioners court of a county that has adopted a
  jury selection plan must file with the Office of Court
  Administration of the Texas Judicial System a copy of the plan and
  any modification to the plan.
         SECTION 3.  Section 62.113, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (e) to read as
  follows:
         (b-1)  The list of persons excused or disqualified because of
  citizenship as required by Subsection (b) may not be combined with
  or submitted simultaneously with any other list required to be
  submitted to the voter registrar of the county, including a list
  submitted under Section 62.114.
         (e)  The information required to be filed with the secretary
  of state under this section must be filed electronically in the
  format prescribed by the secretary of state. The secretary of state
  may waive this requirement on application for a waiver submitted by
  the clerk.
         SECTION 4.  Section 62.114, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  The list compiled under this section of persons excused
  or disqualified because the person is not a resident of the county
  may not be combined with or submitted simultaneously with any other
  list required to be submitted to the voter registrar of the county,
  including a list submitted under Section 62.113.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 62.001(d) and (e), Government Code, are
  repealed.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
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