(1) The general assembly finds and declares that it is the policy of this state that all qualified citizens have an obligation to serve on juries when summoned by the courts of this state unless excused in accordance with the provisions of this article.
(2) (a) (I) A person shall be excused temporarily from service as a juror if his or her jury service would cause undue or extreme physical hardship to him or her or to another person under his or her direct care or supervision.
(II) The provisions of this subsection (2) shall apply notwithstanding the fact that the person does not have sole responsibility for the care of another person as described in section 1371-105 (2)(d).
A judge or jury commissioner of the court for which a person was summoned forjury service shall determine whether jury service would cause the prospective juror or another person under his or her direct care undue or extreme physical hardship.
A person who requests to be excused under this subsection (2) shall take all actionsnecessary to obtain a determination on the request before the date on which the person is scheduled to appear for jury duty.
For purposes of this subsection (2), undue or extreme physical hardship shall belimited to circumstances in which a person:
Would be required to abandon a person under his or her direct care or supervisionbecause of the inability to obtain an appropriate substitute care provider during the period of jury service; or
Would suffer physical hardship possibly resulting in illness or disease.
(e) A person who requests to be excused under the provisions of this subsection (2) may provide the judge or jury commissioner documentation that supports the request to be excused, including but not limited to medical statements, proof of dependency or guardianship, or other similar documents. The judge or jury commissioner may excuse a person if the documentation clearly supports the request to be excused. The documents comprising the documentation described in this subsection (2) shall not be deemed public records and shall not be disclosed to the public.
(2.5) A person who is breast-feeding a child and is temporarily unable to or chooses not to leave the child in order to serve on a jury must be excused temporarily from service as a juror for up to two consecutive twelve-month postponements. The judge or jury commissioner may request a medical statement in support of the postponement. A medical statement provided pursuant to this subsection (2.5) is not a public record and must not be disclosed to the public.
A person who is temporarily excused pursuant to this section shall become eligiblefor qualification as a juror when the temporary excuse expires, as determined by the court. A person may be permanently excused only if the judge or jury commissioner determines that the grounds for being excused from jury service are permanent in nature.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to impaneled jurors or to deliberatingjurors described in section 13-71-119.
Source: L. 2004: Entire section added, p. 277, § 4, effective August 4. L. 2008: (2)(e) amended, p. 1883, § 19, effective August 5. L. 2015: (2)(e) amended and (2.5) added, (HB 151164), ch. 86, p. 248, § 1, effective April 8.