# Supreme Court of Florida

____________

No. SC16

- 996

____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL

PROCEDURE

— FORM 1.983 (PROSPECTIVE JUROR

QUESTIONNAIRE).

[February 23, 2017]

PER CURIAM.

The Court has for consideration amendments to Florida Rule of Civil

Procedure Form 1.983 (Prospective Juror Questionnaire) proposed by The Florida

Bar’s Civil Procedure Rules Committee (Committee)

. 1 

### The Board of Governors of

The Fl orida Bar approved the Committee’s proposals

, which we adopt with the

modifications and additional amendment explained below

.

The more significant amendments proposed in the Committee’s out

- of

- cycle

report 2 

### add directions to the parties and to the court o n the minimization of

sensitive information on the prospective juror questionnaire

, as required by Florida

1

. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

2

. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(e).

### - 2

-

Rule of Judicial Administration 2.425(a)(2), and revise question 13 o n the

questionnaire to conform to section 40.013(4), Florida Statutes (2016) , wh ich

provides for the excusal of expectant mother s and certain parents

, upon request

.

The Committee proposes additional amendments to the form in its response to a

comment by Indian River County Clerk o f Circuit Court and Comptroller Jeffrey

R. Smith , who suggest s several changes to the form. One of the Committee’ s

additional proposals is intended to conform q uestio n 8 o n the questionnaire with

section 40.013(2)(b), Florida Statutes (2016) , which provides for the excusal of

full

- time federal, state, or loc al law enforcement officers and such entities ’

investigative person nel

. The Committee also proposes several amendments to the

summons language under the signature line o n the form , the most significant of

which revises that language to reflect that the cl erk of court, not the sheriff,

summons jurors , consistent with section 40.23(1), Florida Statutes (2016)

.

After considering the Committee ’s report, the comment

, and the response,

w e adopt the amendments to q uestion 13 (expectant mothers and parents)

, the

revisions to the summons language , and the grammatical and stylistic changes

proposed by the Committee

. H owever, we modify the proposed directions at the

top of the form to direct “attorneys and pro se litigants” to redact the month and

date of the p rospective juror’s birth before filing a copy of the form , consistent

with rule 2.425(a)(2)

. See In re Implementation of Comm. on Privacy & Court

### - 3

-

Records Recommendations , 78 So. 3d 1045, 1049

- 50 (Fla. 2011) (explaining that

Florida Rule of Judicial Admini stration 2.425 provides the procedures for

minimizing the amount of sensitive personal information included in documents

being filed with the court and Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420

governs the procedures for determining the confidentiality of information after it

has been filed, and recognizing that under rule 2.425, it is the filer (attorney or pro

se litigant) who must not file or must truncate or redact sensitive personal

information listed in the rule before a document is filed with the court). We also

modify the proposed amendments to q uestion 8 (law enforcement officers and

investigative personnel) consistent with section 40.013(2)(b)

, which allows full

time federal, state, or local law enforcement officers and such entities’

investigative personnel , who otherwise would be excused from jury service

, to

“ choose to serve .” Finally, we amend the n ote about the caption at the end of the

form to referen ce the “ authority charged by law with the selection of prospective

jurors,” consistent with Florida R ule of Civil Procedure 1.431(a)(1)

, rather than the

currently referenced “

ju ry

- selecting authority such as ‘ Board of County

Commiss ioners of Leon County, F lorida,’ or ‘ Pinellas County Jury Commission

. ’ ”

See §§ 40.001 ; 40.011, Fla

. Stat

. (2016) (providing that the clerk of the circuit

court is responsible for the processing of jurors, including the qualifications and

the generation of juror candidate lists)

.

### - 4

-

Accordingly, we amend the Florida Rule s of Civil Procedure as set forth in

the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions

are indicated by struck

- through type. The amendment s shall become effective

immediately upon the release of this opinion.

It is so ordered.

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, and
POLSTON, JJ., concur. LAWSON, J., did not participate.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding

– Florida Rules of Civil Procedure

Roger James Haughey, II, Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Sivyer Barlow
& Watson, P.A., Tampa, Florida; Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola, Past Chair, Civil
Procedure Rules Committee, Miami, Florida; Miguel J. Chamorro, Vice Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Lydecker Diaz LLC, Miami, Florida; Jane

Kreusler

- Walsh, Vice Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Compiani & Vargas, P.A. , W est Palm Beach, Flori da, Judge Rodolfo Armando Ruiz, II, Vice
Chair, Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Miami, Florida; and John F. Harkness,
Jr., Executive Director, and Krys Godwin , Bar Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar,
Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

Jeffrey R. Smith, Ve ro Beach, Florida,

Responding with Comments

### - 5

- APPENDIX

FORM 1.983. PROSPECTIVE JUROR QU ESTIONNAIRE

DIRECTIONS TO ATTORNEYS AND PRO SE LITIGANTS: Before you file a copy of

this form, redact the month and date of the prospective juror’s birth in question #3, but retain the year of birth.
Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.425(a)(2).

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROSPECTIVE JURORS

1. Name (print)

................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... (first) (middle) (last)

2. Residence address

................................ ................................ ................................ ................. (street and number)

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ (city) (zip)

3. Date of birth

................................ ................................ ................................ ..........................

Sex

..................... Occupation

................................ ................................ ..............................

4. Do you understand the English language?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

5. Do you read and write the English language?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

6. Have you ever been convicted of a crime (s) and not restored to your civil rights?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

If “yes,” state the nature of the crime (s)

, the date of the conviction (s) , and the name of the

court (s) in which you were convicted:

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

### - 6

-

7. Are there any criminal charges pending against you of which you are aware?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

If “ye s,” state the nature of the charge (s) and the name of the court (s) in which the case (s) is pending:

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

8. Are you a bonded deputy sheriff FULL

- TIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND

LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIVE PERSONNEL ONLY. Section 40.013(2)(b),

Florida Statutes, provides that “ [ a ] ny full

- time federal, state, or local law enforcement

officer or such entities ’ investigative personnel shall be excused from jury service unless such persons choose to serve.” Do you choose to serve ?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

9. List any official executive office you now hold with the federal, state, or

................ county
government:

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

10. Is your hearing good?

................................ .... ................................ .... (yes) (no)

Is your eyesight good?

................................ .. ................................ .... (yes) (no)

(The court may require a medical certificate.)

11. Do you have any other physical or mental disability that would interfere with your service as a juror?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no)

If “yes,” state the nature:

................................ ................................ ................................ ....... (The court may require a medical certificate.)

12. Do you know of any reason (s) why you cannot serve as a juror?

................................ .... ................................ ................

### - 7

- (yes) (no)

If “yes,” state the reason (s) :

................................ ................................ ................................ ..

13. MOTHERS AND EXPECTANT MOTHERS AND PARENTS ONLY : Florida law provides that expectant mothers and mothers with children under 18 years of age residing

with them sh all be exempt from jury duty upon their request

. Section 40.013(4), Florida

Statutes , provides that “ [ a ] ny expectant mother and any parent who is not employed full

time and who has custody of a child under 6 years of age, upon request, shall be excused from jury service.” Do you want to be exempt excused under this provision?

................................ .... ................................ ................ (yes) (no) If “yes,” what are the ages of your children?

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................

Signature

This is not a summons for jury duty. If your name is later drawn for jury service, you will be summoned by the sheriff clerk of court by registered mail or in person

.

NOTE: This form does not use a caption as shown in form 1.901. It may be headed with the designation of the jury

- selecting authority such as “Board of County Commissioners of Leon County, Florida,” or “Pinellas County Jury Commission.” authority charged by law w ith the selection of prospective jurors.