INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday approved a bill doubling pay for jury duty. State Rep. Michelle Davis’ (R-Whiteland) House Bill 1466 would boost pay by hiking an existing fee and creating a brand-new fee to help local units of government cover the new expenses. Lawmakers had some quibbles.
Hoosiers who show up for jury selection now earn $15 per day. Those chosen for a trial get $40 per day, or $5 per hour, significantly less than the state and federal minimum of $7.25 hourly. The bill would double the daily appearance pay to $30 and the jury fee to $80 for the first five days. On day six, pay increases to $90 daily.
One amendment, easily approved, ensured people who are eliminated from the jury for reasons laid out in law would still get paid for their service. But the bill would also increase the $2 jury fees that convicts pay to $6.
Sen, Eric Koch (R-Bedford) said he was working on an amendment to limit the application of the new fee to only people who request the jury trial.
A representative for the Indiana Public Defender Council, an independent judicial branch agency, also suggested the jury fee that convicts pay should be waived when there is only a bench trial.
Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather Welch said she and a jury had recently come off a three-week trial. As a result, jurors said they’d lost wages and struggled to pay bills or paid hefty childcare rates. Welch said, “I think it really justifies this increase.”
The committee approved the bill 10-0. It now goes to the chamber’s appropriations committee to consider its fiscal impact.
