O.C.G.A.
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
As used in this chapter, the term: (1) ‘‘Array’’ means the body of persons subject to voir dire from which the final jury and alternate jurors are selected. (2) ‘‘Choose’’ or ‘‘chosen’’ means the act of randomly selecting potential jurors from the county master jury list in a manner that does not deliberately or systematically exclude identifiable and distinct groups from the venire. (3) ‘‘Clerk’’ means the clerk of the superior court or a jury clerk if one is appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 15-12-11 or Code Section 15-12-12. (4) ‘‘Council’’ means The Council of Superior Court Clerks of Georgia. (5) ‘‘County master jury list’’ means a list compiled by the council of names of persons, including their addresses, city of residence, dates of birth, and gender, eligible for trial or grand jury service. (6) ‘‘Defer’’ means a postponement of a person’s jury service until a later date.
(7) ‘‘Excuse’’ means the grant of a person’s request for temporary exemption from jury service. (8) ‘‘Inactivate’’ means removing a person’s name and identifying information who has been identified on the county master jury list as a person who is permanently prevented from being chosen as a trial or grand juror because such person is statutorily ineligible or incompetent to serve as a juror. (9) ‘‘State-wide master jury list’’ means a comprehensive master list that identifies every person of this state who can be determined to be prima facie qualified to serve as a trial or grand juror. (10) ‘‘Venire’’ means the list of persons summoned to serve as trial or grand jurors for a particular term of court.
History
(Code 1981, § 15-12-1, enacted by Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-5/HB 415; Ga. L. 2014, p. 451, § 3/HB 776; Ga. L. 2014, p. 862, § 1/HB 1078.)
Annotations
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.’ ’’ Ga. L. 2011, p. 59, § 1-5/HB 415, effective July 1, 2011, redesignated former Code Section 15-12-1 as present Code Section 15-12-1.1.
The 2014 amendments. - The first 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, substituted ‘‘Code Section 15-12-12’’ for ‘‘subsection (b) of Code Section 15-12-23’’ in paragraph (3); substituted ‘‘The Council’’ for ‘‘the Council’’ in paragraph (4); deleted former paragraph (9), which read: ‘‘ ‘Jury commissioner’ means a member of a county board of jury commissioners.’’; and redesignated former paragraphs (10) and (11) as present paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively. The second 2014 amendment, effective April 29, 2014, in-
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
51
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2022 · leading case:
Humphreys v. State, 694 S.E.2d 316 (Ga. 2010).
Humphreys v. State, 694 S.E.2d 316 (Ga. 2010).
· cites it 16× “While the order does not cite OCGA § 15-12-1, it tracks that statute's language.”
Bryant v. State, 708 S.E.2d 362 (Ga. 2011).
· cites it 8× “Although affidavits were not provided to potential jurors, before granting any excusal the trial court examined on the record individually and under oath those potential jurors who identified themselves as primary caregivers as defined in OCGA § 15-12-1 regarding their role as…”
Ingram v. State, 323 S.E.2d 801 (Ga. 1984).
· cites it 8× “OCGA § 15-12-1 (a) provided that attorneys were exempt from jury duty but that upon an attorney’s written request, he could be included on the jury list.”
West v. State, 313 S.E.2d 67 (Ga. 1984).
· cites it 8× “See OCGA § 15-12-1 (Code Ann. § 59-112). Again, the state should be allowed the opportunity to demonstrate that an adequate state interest justified the underrepresentation of the group on the jury list.”
Yates v. State, 553 S.E.2d 563 (Ga. 2001).
· cites it 10× “See OCGA § 15-12-1. However, the trial court or someone appointed in writing by the chief judge of the circuit'may under OCGA § 15-12-1 (a) excuse a potential juror from jury duty if the juror shows “good cause why he or she should be exempt from jury duty[.”
McClain v. State, 477 S.E.2d 814 (Ga. 1996).
· cites it 4× “The holding in Witt is irrelevant to the issue of whether Head’s excusal was proper, since Head was excused for good cause under OCGA § 15-12-1 and not for her views on the death penalty.”
Thornton v. State, 449 S.E.2d 98 (Ga. 1994).
· cites it 5× “See OCGA § 15-12-1. However, § 15-12-1 permits a trial court to excuse a juror from service if the juror shows “good cause why he [or she] should be exempt from jury duty,” § 15-12-1 (a).”
Lumpkin v. State, 338 S.E.2d 431 (Ga. 1986).
· cites it 8× “Lumpkin contends that this failed to conform to the requirements of OCGA § 15-12-1 (a), which provides that a summoned juror may not be excused except "by the judge of the court to which he or she has been summoned or by some other person who has been duly appointed by order of…”
Sealey v. State, 593 S.E.2d 335 (Ga. 2004).
· cites it 4× “337, 344 (7) ( 519 SE2d 655 ) (1999); see OCGA § 15-12-1 (a) (2), (3); but see Holsey v.”
Hill v. State, 850 S.E.2d 110 (Ga. 2020).
· cites it 2× “171, 188-193 (5) ( 800 SE2d 307 ) (2017), this Court considered a pretrial challenge to Fulton County’s master jury list, which the defendant claimed had been produced in a manner that violated the Jury Composition Rule that this Court adopted to effectuate the Jury Composition…”
Johnson v. State, 519 S.E.2d 221 (Ga. 1999).
· cites it 4× “OCGA § 15-12-1 (a); McMichen v. State, 265 Ga.”
Walker v. State, 327 S.E.2d 475 (Ga. 1985).
· cites it 4× “Walker has failed to show that excusing women with children under the age of 14, pursuant to former OCGA § 15-12-1 (b), resulted in the substantial underrepresentation of cognizable groups on Washington County jury venires generally or on his venire.”
— 15-12-1(a) — 2 cases
Johnson v. State, 519 S.E.2d 221 (Ga. 1999).
“OCGA § 15-12-1 (a); McMichen v. State, 265 Ga.”
— 15-12-1(a)(1) — 3 cases
Humphreys v. State, 694 S.E.2d 316 (Ga. 2010).
“While the order does not cite OCGA § 15-12-1, it tracks that statute's language.”
Bryant v. State, 708 S.E.2d 362 (Ga. 2011).
“Although affidavits were not provided to potential jurors, before granting any excusal the trial court examined on the record individually and under oath those potential jurors who identified themselves as primary caregivers as defined in OCGA § 15-12-1 regarding their role as…”
— 15-12-1(a)(2) — 1 case
Humphreys v. State, 694 S.E.2d 316 (Ga. 2010).
“While the order does not cite OCGA § 15-12-1, it tracks that statute's language.”
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