An Act To Include Alternates as Regular Jurors
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1155
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: MILLS
Amends: 14 MRSA §1204, 14 MRSA §1207, 15 MRSA §1317

Legislative Document 
No. 1155 
H.P.854 
House of Representatives, March 4, 2003 
An Act To Include Alternates as Regular Jurors 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MILLS of Cornville. 
Printed on recycled paper 
/J'l~ frJ.1T/Q£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §1204, as amended by PL 1977, c. 102, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§1204. 
Civil juries 
1. 
Number of members. 
A civil jury consists of between 7 
and 9 members, but the unanimous votes of 6 or more jurors are 
sufficient to determine a verdict. 
A jury of 8 members must be 
selected unless the court determines that a 9th member should be 
added to ensure that at least 7 jurors will be available to 
consider the verdict. 
All jurors who have heard the evidence 
shall participate in determining the verdict unless discharged 
for cause. 
2. 
Procedures. 
At the commencement of each term, 
the 
clerk shall prepare an alphabetical list of the names of those 
appearing for duty as traverse jurors. 
Before each trial, after 
the court has ruled on challenges for cause, the clerk shall 
randomly draw by lot from the names of all eligible jurors a 
sufficient number to comprise the jury panel plus enough to 
account for peremptory challenges. 
Peremptory challenges may 
then be exercised in accordance with court rules. 
When the panel 
is complete, the court shall appoint a 
foreperson to oversee 
deliberations and to speak for the jury. 
Sec. 2. 14 MRSA §1207 is repealed. 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §1317, as amended by PL 1973, c. 567, §20, is 
further amended to read: 
§1317_ List of witnesses 
The 
Attorney 
General, 
district 
attorney 
or 
€e~emaB 
foreperson of the grand jury shall swear or affirm, in presence 
of the jury, all witnesses who are to testify before them, and a 
list thereof, stating the cases in which they testify, shall must 
be returned into the court by the 
~e~emaB foreperson before the 
jury is discharged and filed and entered on record by the clerk. 
The clerk shall may not make such list public until the criminal 
cases at such terms have been tried or otherwise disposed of. 
SUMMARY 
For civil cases, this bill eliminates the need for choosing 
al ternate jurors who are dismissed at the end of trial. 
All 
jurors chosen may participate in the verdict so long as the panel 
contains at least 7 
members. 
The 
unanimous votes of any 
Page I-LRI035(1) 
members 
are required for 
a 
verdict. 
Normally, 
a 
jury of 
members 
will be chosen unless the court determines that a 9th 
member should be added to ensure that at least 7 members will 
remain at the end. 
The text of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 14, section 
1204 is substantially rewritten 
with the substance preserved. 
It continues the practice of choosing names by lot from the pool 
of 
eligible 
jurors. 
The 
court 
is 
directed 
to 
appoint 
a 
foreperson to oversee deliberations and to speak for the jury.