WSR 15-13-032

RULES OF COURT

[June 4, 2015]

The Administrative Office of the Courts, having recommended the Proposed Amendments to GR 18 Appendix Concerning Jury Source List, and the Court having considered the amendments and comments submitted thereto;

Now, therefore, it is hereby

(a) That pursuant to the provisions of GR 9(g), the proposed amendments as shown below are to be published for comment in the Washington Reports, Washington Register, Washington State Bar Association and Administrative Office of the Court's websites expeditiously.

(b) The purpose statement as required by GR 9(e), is published solely for the information of the Bench, Bar and other interested parties.

(c) Comments are to be submitted to the Clerk of the Supreme Court by either U.S. Mail or Internet E-Mail by no later than September 30, 2015. Comments may be sent to the following addresses: P.O. Box 40929, Olympia, Washington 98504-0929, or supreme@courts.wa.gov. Comments submitted by e-mail message must be limited to 1500 words.

DATED at Olympia, Washington this 4th day of June, 2015.

Proposal to Amend GR 18 Appendix

Concerning Jury Source List

Submitted by the Administrative Office of the Courts

Background: Currently, each county is required to annually declare if they want a jury source list merged by the Department of Enterprise Services (DES), or separate files of registered voters and holders of driver's licenses and identicards for their county. The DES creates the merged list from data gathered from the Department of Licensing (DOL) and the Office of the Secretary of State (SOS). Courts then receive a disc containing the requested file(s). Counties are also required to further investigate suspected duplicates.

Counties have been reporting a large number of jury summonses returned as undeliverable. The majority are in counties with a high population using mailing addresses separate from their residential addresses (i.e., post office boxes). Research into the issue revealed that the mailing address held by the DOL is being dropped during the process which creates the jury source list. Because the majority of the names in the jury source list come from the DOL, as opposed to the Secretary of State's voter registration file, most summonses addressed to persons who do not use their residential address to receive mail were undeliverable by the postal service.

Discussions with the counties' jury administrators also revealed that the suspected duplicates list, a file created during the merge process, is not being used. Each county has a local vendor or IT department which performs duplicate processing on the jury source list file itself, rather than a secondary file of suspected duplicates Discussions with the agencies which provide the source data for the merged list, the DOL and the Office of the Secretary of State, have led to an updated person matching process which will allow for better elimination of duplicates when the file is created.

During the conversations with the counties and the participating state agencies, it was also requested that the method of delivering the files be more efficient and less costly. At times, the courts need to request both a merged and separate files, duplicate copies of the files, or need a refresh of the file midway through the jury year. By changing the delivery method, these needs can all be addressed.

Purpose: The primary purpose for the suggested amendments to GR 18 is to ensure that courts receive the most accurate jury information in an expedient manner. The jury source list is created and distributed from the Department of Enterprise Services by using specific data from the Department of Licensing (DOL) and Secretary of State's Office (SOS).

Key Recommendations:

1. The data point of "mailing address" is added to GR 18(b) and will be included in the list which is sent to the courts. This is expected to significantly decrease the portion of summonses that is returned as undeliverable.

2. The Department of Enterprise Services will be required to make information available on a secure server, allowing each county to access and transfer whichever list they prefer according to the rule. This eliminates the requirement that the court provide notice of which list they will use annually and eliminates the production and maintenance of individual discs. Access to the data will be controlled by security measures including a user ID and password, limiting each county to accessing their own data.

3. Elimination the requirement to compile a "suspected duplicate" list. Counties are rarely, if at all, able to spend time investigating potential duplicates and therefore, the section was removed to reflect current practice. In addition, the new automated matching process should reduce the number of duplicates when the list is produced. Therefore, the requirement to compile the list is removed.

Hearing: A public hearing is not required.

Expedited Consideration: Expedited consideration is requested in order to make these rules effective by January 1, 2016.

Further questions regarding this proposal may be directed to

Jennifer Creighton

Associate Director | ISD

Administrative Office of the Courts

360.705.5310

(a) Effective Date. Effective September 1, 1994, all prospective jurors shall be identified using the jury source list as herein provided.

(b) Jury Source List. "Jury source list" means the list of all registered voters of a county, merged with a list of licensed drivers and identicard holders who reside in that county. The list shall specify each person's first and last name, middle initial, date of birth, gender, mailing address, and residence address. When legally available for jury selection use, each such list shall also specify each person's Social Security number.

(c) Order of the Supreme Court. The jury source list shall be created utilizing the methodology and standards set forth by Supreme Court order and by Laws of 1993, ch. 408, subsection 1.

(d) Juror Qualification Confirmation. Each court, after consultation with the county auditor and county clerk of its jurisdiction, shall establish a means to preliminarily determine by written declaration signed under penalty of perjury by each person summoned, the qualifications set forth in RCW 2.36.070 of each person summoned for jury duty prior to the person's appearance at the court to which the person is summoned to serve. Information so provided to the court for preliminary determination of qualification for jury duty may only be used for the term such person is summoned and may not be used for any other purpose. Provided, that the court, or its designee, may report a change of address or nondelivery of summons of persons summoned for jury duty to the county auditor.

General Rule 18 of the Washington Court Rules provides that the Supreme Court of the State of Washington should designate by order the creation of the jury source list.

Now, Therefore, It is hereby ordered:

That the jury source list shall be created according to the attached appendix describing the methodology and standards for creating the jury source list by merging the list of registered voters for a county with the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders who reside in that county.

That each superior court shall receive may access a jury source list from the Department of Information Enterprise Services by May 1, 1994 2016, and annually thereafter, via secure file transfer protocol, a list which list shall be created according to the methodology and standards set forth in the attached appendix. Provided, that the jury source list may be created, at the direction of the presiding judge of each superior court after consultation with the county auditor and the county clerk of that jurisdiction, by the county, according to the methodology and standards set forth in the attached appendix. If a superior court elects to have the jury source list created by the county the superior court shall may access, via secure file transfer protocol, by May 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, so notify the Department of Information Services annually by March 1, 1994, and that superior court shall thereafter receive a separate list of licensed drivers and identicard holders residing in that county and a separate list of registered voters residing in that county from the Department of Enterprise Services from the Department of Information Services by April 1, 1994, and annually thereafter. Each superior court may choose annually which files to transfer to their local secure server.

That in the event, for any reason, the jury source list is not created and available for use as set forth above, the most recent previously compiled jury source list shall be used by the courts on an emergency basis only for the shortest period of time until a current jury source list is created and available for use as provided for herein.

Dated at Olympia, Washington, this ____ day of ___________, 1920 .

APPENDIX

This appendix describes the methodology for merging the list of registered voters and the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders to form a jury source list pursuant to GR 18 and the Supreme Court of Washington order to which this appendix is attached. Records of persons from the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders shall not be used in creating a jury source list if their license or identicard has been expired longer than 90 days. Records of persons from the registered voter list shall not be used in creating a jury source list if they are in an inactive status.

Persons on the list of registered voters and on the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders shall be identified based on the following data: date of birth, last name, first name, middle initial, gender and county code to reflect residence address. Upon notification by the Supreme Court of Washington of the legal availability of the Social Security number for jury selection purposes, the persons on each list shall also be identified by Social Security number.

The list of registered voters and the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders shall be merged to form a jury source list.

Using the identifying information on each person, known duplicate names shall be eliminated during the merging process so that the jury source list shall contain, to the extent reasonably possible, each prospective juror's name only once.

Suspected duplication of prospective jurors' names on the jury source list which cannot be clearly confirmed at the time that the jury source list is created shall be identified on the jury source list for further investigation at the county level. For that purpose only, the jury source list shall identify each person as having been originally listed on the list of registered voters, or the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders, or both. Conflicts of addresses shall be resolved by using the address most currently provided for the lists from which the names originated.

If suspected duplication of names on the jury source list cannot be resolved after reasonable efforts at the county level, the suspected duplicate names shall be stricken from that jury source list.

Selection of persons for the master jury list from the jury source list, and the designation of persons on the master jury list to be summoned, shall be random and totally without regard to whether a person's name originally appeared on the list of registered voters, or on the list of licensed drivers and identicard holders, or both.

[Adopted effective September 1, 1994; amended September 1, 2009.]