GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

S                                                                                                                                                    D

SENATE DRS35075-LH-110  (2/11)

Short Title:        No Sex Offenders on Juries.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senator Rand.
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to provide that a person who is convicted of a criminal offense that requires a person to register under Either the sex offender and public protection registration program or the sexually violent predator registration program is ineligible to serve on a jury during the registration period.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 9‑3 reads as rewritten:

"§ 9‑3.  Qualifications of prospective jurors.

All persons are qualified to serve as jurors and to be included on the jury list who are citizens of the State and residents of the county, who have not served as jurors during the preceding two years, who are 18 years of age or over, who are physically and mentally competent, who can hear and understand the English language, who have not been convicted of a felony or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to an indictment charging a felony (or if convicted of a felony or having pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to an indictment charging a felony have had their citizenship restored pursuant to law), and who have not been adjudged non compos mentis. No person who is convicted of an offense (including both misdemeanor and felony offenses) for which the person is required to register under Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is qualified to serve as a juror under this section for the period of time during which the person is required to register, even if the person's citizenship rights have been restored pursuant to law. Persons not qualified under this section are subject to challenge for cause."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.