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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Herrera
DATE TYPED 2/15/05
HB 395
SHORT TITLE Excuse 65 & Over From Jury Duty
SB
ANALYST Hanika-Ortiz
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
FY05
FY06
See Narrative Recurring
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Bernalillo Metropolitan Court
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Public Defender Department (PDD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 395 adds an additional basis for excuse, exclusion or postponement from jury service
that the summoned person has “attained sixty-five or more years of age”.
Significant Issues
HB 395 may make it difficult to accumulate the required number of persons to serve on a panel
of eligible jurors. New Mexico is a retirement destination and people over the age of sixty-four
represent a significant portion of the community.
The AOC notes that the trial system is based on a jury of one’s peers. Age is not a certain indi-
cator of a person’s ability to serve as a juror. Automatic excusals limit the diversity of the jury
based on a group of persons, not the person’s actual ability to serve.
The PDD reports that jury pools are so small in some districts that the courts find it very difficult
to get an unbiased jury panel selected. Jurors are often required to sit through several trials,
which is unfair. Jurors are often required to sit even when they have expressed doubts about their