Appointment of Jury Clerk and Other Personnel; Trial or Grand Juror Questionnaires; Construction With Other Laws

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  6. Appointment of Jury Clerk and Other Personnel; Trial or Grand Juror Questionnaires; Construction With Other Laws

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  1. In all counties having a population of 600,000 or more according to the United States decennial census of 1990 or any future such census, the judges of the superior court of such counties, by a majority vote of all of them, shall have the power to appoint a jury clerk and such other personnel as may be deemed necessary or advisable to dispatch the work of the court. The appointments to such positions and the compensation therefor shall be determined by the judges without regard to any other system or rules, such personnel to serve at the pleasure of the judges. The salaries and expenses of the personnel and any attendant expense of administration of the courts are determined to be contingent expense of court and shall be paid as provided by law for the payment of contingent expenses. The duties of the personnel shall be as prescribed by the judges.
  2. Prospective trial and grand jurors in all counties may be required to answer written questionnaires, as may be determined and submitted by the judges of such counties, concerning their qualifications as jurors. In propounding the court's questions, the court may consider the suggestions of counsel. In the court's questionnaire and during voir dire examination, judges should ensure that the privacy of prospective jurors is reasonably protected and that the questioning by counsel is consistent with the purpose of the voir dire process.
  3. Juror questionnaires shall be confidential and shall be exempt from public disclosure pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50; provided, however, that jury questionnaires shall be provided to the court and to the parties at any stage of the proceedings, including pretrial, trial, appellate, or postconviction proceedings, and shall be made a part of the record under seal. The information disclosed to a party pursuant to this subsection shall only be used by the parties for purposes of pursuing a claim, defense, or other issue in the case.
  4. In the event any prospective juror fails or refuses to answer the questionnaire, the clerk shall report the failure or refusal to the court together with the facts concerning the same, and the court shall have such jurisdiction as is provided by law for subpoena, attachment, and contempt powers.
  5. This Code section shall be supplemental to other provisions of law, with a view toward efficient and orderly handling of jury selection and the administration of justice.

(Ga. L. 1964, p. 2119, §§ 1-4; Code 1981, §15-12-11, enacted by Ga. L. 1982, p. 2107, § 12; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1228, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1292, § 2; Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-11/HB 415; Ga. L. 2012, p. 218, § 3/HB 397; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 15/HB 79; Ga. L. 2014, p. 862, § 7/HB 1078.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subsection (c).

The 2014 amendment, effective April 29, 2014, inserted "trial and grand" at the beginning of the first sentence of subsection (b).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-1/HB 415, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Jury Composition Reform Act of 2011.'"

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2012 amendment of this Code section, see 29 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 139 (2012).


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