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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Boitano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/31/07

2/19/07 HB

SHORT TITLE

Expand Jury Service Exemptions

SB

170/aSPAC/aSJC

ANALYST C.Sanchez

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Department of Health (DOH)

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SJC Amendment

The Senate Judiciary Amendment excludes caregivers that provide care through employment or

as a normal course of business.

Synopsis of SPAC Amendment

The Senate Public Affairs amendment deletes one of the new sub-categories of persons who may

be eligible for exemption from jury duty. Specifically, the amendment deleted parents or

guardians with the custody or a child under six from the list of persons eligible for jury

exemption.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 170 amends §38-5-2 (NMSA 1978) to create specific exemptions from jury service.

Persons who meet the requirements of one of these categories would automatically be excused

from jury service for 36 months.

Senate Bill 170/aSPAC/aSJC – Page

2

The exemptions are:

•

Expectant mother or mother who is currently breastfeeding

•

Parent or guardian not employed full time who has custody of a child under six years of

age

•

Caregiver for elderly or disabled persons who is scheduled or expected to provide care at

the time of jury service

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This change to the jury statute has the potential to reduce the number of available jurors and

thereby increase the workload of courts, thus requiring additional resources to handle the

increase. There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution, and

documentation of statutory changes.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The jury statute was amended during the 2005 legislative session. Based on the 2005

amendments, the court may excuse any person who would “be required to abandon another

person under the person’s care or supervision due to the extreme difficulty of obtaining an

appropriate substitute caregiver during the period of jury service" §38-5-2 F(1)(a). This

language allows courts to excuse persons in the groups designated in this bill.

Our trial system is based on a jury of one’s peers. Automatic excusals limit the diversity of the

jury based on a group of persons, not the person’s actual ability to serve.

Excusing expectant or breastfeeding mothers is language that is broader than needed. Many

pregnant women continue to work full time until delivery. Also, many breastfeeding mothers

work outside the home.

An excusal of a parent or guardian who does not work full time and has custody of a child under

six may be too broad. As drafted, any non-working parent of a child under six could be excused,

even if care is readily available and/or commonly used.

Excusals for a caregiver of the elderly or disabled who is scheduled or expected to provide care

may also be too broad. As drafted any healthcare employee who works with the elderly or

disabled could be excused from jury service.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The courts are participating in performance-based budgeting. This bill could impact two

performance measures. They are the percentage of jury summonses successfully executed and

average cost per juror. Automatic excusals may increase the total number of jury summonses

that must be executed, and could increase the average cost per juror as fewer jurors summoned

actually serve.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

See Fiscal Implications

Senate Bill 170/aSPAC/aSJC – Page

3

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The amendment to Subsection B appears to be unnecessary, as the trial judge or designee may

currently exempt a person when he or she gives satisfactory evidence why he or she cannot

perform his or her civic duty, under Subsection B(3), a catch-all exception.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Breastfeeding provides a range of benefits for the infant’s growth, immunity, and developments.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for

approximately the first six months of life, and then continued for at least the first year of life and

thereafter for as long as mutually desired by the mother/infant pair

(http://pediatrics.aapublications.org

)

The United States Breastfeeding Committee recognizes that jury duty can present significant

problems for the breastfeeding mother. In their paper, “State Breastfeeding Legislation", they

recommend enacting or amending laws to offer greater support for breastfeeding. The

committee states that the effect of a sudden separation can put the breastfeeding relationship

between mother and infant at risk and that separation can also cause the mother to become ill

with a breast infection if she is not able to breastfeed or to pump breast milk regularly

(www.usbreastfeeding.org

). The U.S. Health and Human Services Blue Print for Action on

Breastfeeding recommends that breastfeeding mothers who need to express their milk be

provided with adequate breaks, flexible work hours and a private room for milk expression in a

secure and relaxing environment (www.4woman.gov/breastfeeding

). Many court facilities may

not be able to provide these accommodations for the breastfeeding mother. Breastfeeding

mothers in these situations describe having to use a public or private restroom for pumping milk,

which is not a sanitary or acceptable alternative.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Status Quo

CS/mt:nt