Title: Post-trial Counseling Services for Jurors

Summary: Creating a post-trial counseling program for jurors in each judicial circuit; providing the program's purpose; requiring the Office of the State Courts Administrator to provide administrative support for the program; requiring the judicial circuit to provide a specified number of counseling sessions at no charge to a juror under certain circumstances; prohibiting a clerk of the court from releasing the name of a juror who requests post-trial counseling services, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to post-trial counseling services for jurors; creating s. 40.61, F.S.; creating a post-trial counseling program for jurors in each judicial circuit; providing the program s purpose; requiring the Office of the State Courts Administrator to provide administrative support for the program; requiring the chief judge of the circuit to administer the program and, in consultation with the Department of Children and Families, take specified actions; requiring the judicial circuit to provide a specified number of counseling sessions at no charge to a juror under certain circumstances; authorizing the judicial circuit to provide a specified number of counseling sessions at no charge to jurors under specified circumstances; authorizing judges to extend jury service for a specified administrative purpose if a juror requests counseling before the conclusion of a trial; providing that certain protections available to a juror during a trial apply during an administrative extension; prohibiting a clerk of the court from releasing the name of a juror who requests post-trial counseling services; providing that a juror who requests post-trial counseling services within a specified timeframe after the conclusion of a trial must be offered a referral to specified providers; requiring the judicial circuits to annually submit, by a specified date, a certain report to the Department of Children and Families; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 40.61, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 40.6   Post-trial juror counseling program.  (1)   A post-trial juror counseling program is created within each judicial circuit to provide post-trial counseling services to jurors who served in a trial in which a reasonable person would likely experience trauma or distress due to the gravity of the offense or the subject matter. The Office of the State Courts Administrator shall provide administrative support for the program. (2)   The chief judge of the circuit shall administer the program and, in consultation with the Department of Children and Families, shall do all of the following: (a)   Identify those trials, as described in subsection (1), after which a juror may need counseling services. At a minimum, post-trial counseling services must be offered to jurors who served or were impaneled for a trial relating to: 1.   The killing or attempted killing of another human being. 2.   Sexual misconduct or offenses. 3.   The neglect, abuse, or endangerment of minors. (b)   Require judges in the circuit to inform jurors of the availability of the program. (c)   Make available post-trial counseling services for jurors through a community mental health center or clinic as defined in s. 394.455. Such counseling may be offered through a telehealth provider as defined in s. 456.47. (3)(a)   The judicial circuit shall provide six post-trial counseling sessions at no charge to a juror who requests such counseling before the conclusion of the trial pursuant to paragraph (4)(a). (b)   The judicial circuit may provide six post-trial counseling sessions at no charge to a juror who requests such counseling after the conclusion of a trial, but within the months after the trial pursuant to paragraph (4)(b). (4)(a)1.   If a judge presides over a trial for which post trial counseling services are required to be offered and a selected or impaneled juror requests post-trial counseling services before the conclusion of the trial, the judge must extend the jury s service for administrative purposes to accommodate any juror who requests counseling. The extension must provide enough time to allow jurors to seek six counseling sessions. 2.   The same protections that apply to jurors during a trial apply during an administrative extension. 3.   The clerk of the court may not release the name of a juror who requests post-trial counseling services. (b)   If a juror does not request post-trial counseling services before the conclusion of a trial for which post-trial counseling services are required to be offered, but requests such services within months after such trial concludes, the judicial circuit must offer a referral to the juror for counseling services through a provider who is licensed to provide such services and who has an existing relationship with the Department of Children and Families. (5)   By December 31, 2024, and annually by each December thereafter, each judicial circuit shall submit a report to the Department of Children and Families which, at a minimum, includes the number of jurors who requested post-trial counseling services, whether each such juror made the request before or after the conclusion of a trial, the amount of sessions provided in each instance, and the costs incurred by the judicial circuit in connection with the services offered. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.