Jury service can?t be avoided forever. That?s the message from lawmakers when a bill proposal won unanimous early support from both the Senate and the House of Delegates Tuesday. The bill could receive a final vote this week.
The proposal, backed by the Maryland Judicial Conference, would clarify language in the state?s existing law that jury service can be rescheduled for good reasons but cannot be indefinitely postponed.
“It essentially helps replenish the jury pool,” said Richard Montgomery, a lobbyist for the Maryland State Bar Association, who supported the bill.
The bill also would add questions to the juror questionnaire, including asking for telephone numbers, education level of the potential juror and whether the person needs accommodations for a disability.
Under current law, a person is eligible to be selected for jury duty after one year if he or she has served on a trial jury for less than five days in the last three years. The proposed bill would include service on a grand jury in the calculation of eligibility to serve again.
