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House Judiciary hears bill allowing jurors 75 and older to request excusal
Summary
Senate Bill 137 would let Montanans 75 or older be excused from jury service on request; proponents cited rural travel burdens and clerks said the change would reduce paperwork by removing required physician letters. Committee asked for data on how many jurors are 75+.
Senators and witnesses told the House Judiciary Committee on Monday that Senate Bill 137 would give people 75 and older the option to be excused from jury service upon request, a change supporters described as easing a logistical burden for older Montanans, particularly in rural areas.
The bill, introduced by Senator Jeremy Trebus of Great Falls, amends the Montana Code Annotated provision governing jury excusal to allow the court or jury commissioner to excuse a person 75 or older when that person requests it. "On a request of a person who is 75 years of age or older, the court or the jury commissioner shall excuse the person from jury service," Trebus told the committee, adding the measure would not automatically exclude older residents from service.
Supporters stressed practicality rather than blanket exclusion. Senator Russ Temple, representing a rural district, said travel for jury duty can be onerous: from parts of his district it is "130 miles to Great Falls to serve." Pamela Harada, who said she is 79, described receiving both state and federal jury notices and noted that federal practice already allows a request-based excusal for people 75 and older. "Seniors want to still be good citizens, but many of us have issues that don't rise to the level of being able to qualify for a disability," Harada said.
Lisa Kallio, clerk of district court for Lewis and Clark County, speaking for the Montana Association of Clerks of District Court, told the committee the bill would streamline the current process by allowing the jury commissioner (usually the clerk of district court) to grant excusals on request rather than requiring a physician's letter to the judge. "A lot of those older persons do not want to bother their doctors for an appointment to get the required letter," Kallio said.
Committee members asked the clerk's office to provide data on the percentage of jurors aged 75 or older who are summoned in practice. The clerk agreed to supply that information to the committee.
The committee closed the hearing on SB137 without taking immediate action.
The House Judiciary Committee will decide later whether to recommend the bill for further consideration; the committee asked staff to provide the requested juror-age data to help inform that decision.
