Excuses prospective jurors from jury service if they are a full-time caregiver responsible for the care of a person with a mental or physical condition that causes such person to be incapable of caring for himself or herself.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8182
SPONSOR: Santabarbara TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to excusing prospective
jurors from jury service if they are a full-time caregiver responsible
for the care of a person with a mental or physical condition that causes
such person to be incapable of caring for himself or herself
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
THIS LEGISLATION IS DESIGNED TO GRANT AN EXEMPTION FROM JURY DUTY TO
INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVE AS FULL-TIME CAREGIVERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELL-
BEING OF INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL OR PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT RENDER THEM
INCAPABLE OF SELF-CARE.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
A Section 3 is added to section 517 of the judiciary law, which requires
that an application to be excused from jury service shall be granted if
a prospective juror provides a written statement under penalty of perju-
ry that such prospective juror is a full-time caregiver responsible for
the care of a person with a mental or physical condition that causes
such person to be incapable of caring for himself or herself.
JUSTIFICATION:
Caregivers frequently find themselves responsible for providing contin-
uous care to individuals with disabilities, preventing them from leaving
their care recipients unattended for extended periods. This proposed
legislation seeks to grant an exemption from jury service to these full-
time caregivers, aiming to avoid any inconvenience for both them and the
individuals under their care.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8182
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to excusing prospective
jurors from jury service if they are a full-time caregiver responsible
for the care of a person with a mental or physical condition that
causes such person to be incapable of caring for himself or herself
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 517 of the judiciary law, as
2 amended by chapter 86 of the laws of 1995, paragraphs 1 and 2 as amended
3 by chapter 380 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph two or three of this
5 subdivision, the commissioner of jurors may, in his or her discretion,
6 on the application of a prospective juror who has been summoned to
7 attend, excuse such prospective juror from a part or the whole of the
8 time of jury service or may postpone the time of jury service to a later
9 day during the same or any subsequent term of the court, provided that
10 if the prospective juror is a breastfeeding mother and submits with her
11 application a note from a physician indicating that the prospective
12 juror is breastfeeding, the commissioner shall excuse the prospective
13 juror or postpone the time of jury service. The application shall be
14 presented to the commissioner at such time and in such manner as he or
15 she shall require, except that an application for postponement of the
16 initial date for jury service may be made by telephone.
17 (2) An application for postponement of jury service shall be granted
18 hereunder provided: (i) such service has not already been postponed or
19 excused, (ii) the application is made at such time and in such manner as
20 the commissioner of jurors requires, and (iii) the postponement is to a
21 date certain when the court is in session not more than six months after
22 the date on which such service otherwise is to commence and such date is
23 selected by the prospective juror, provided that if the prospective
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07487-02-3
A. 8182 2
1 juror is a breastfeeding mother, the postponement date may be a date
2 certain up to two years after the date on which such service otherwise
3 is to commence.
4 (3) An application to be excused from jury service shall be granted if
5 the prospective juror provides a written statement under penalty of
6 perjury, in a form and manner as the commissioner of jurors shall
7 require, that such prospective juror is a full-time caregiver responsi-
8 ble for the care of a person with a mental or physical condition that
9 causes such person to be incapable of caring for himself or herself.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
11 have become a law.
