Since 1993, many states have enacted laws relating to breastfeeding. Currently, forty-three states and Puerto Rico have enacted some form of breastfeeding legislation, which most commonly addresses breastfeeding in the workplace and exempting nursing mothers from laws dealing with indecent exposure and/or criminal behavior. Additionally, some states have laws or rules that more directly bear on the obligation of breastfeeding mothers to serve on juries. This regulation of jury service generally has taken one of three approaches: Some states have enacted statutes that expressly excuse or defer jury service. States with this type of law include California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Virginia. These laws are cited and summarized below. Additionally, Wyoming is considering legislation to defer or excuse jury duty. Another state legislative development is the enactment of "family friendly" jury duty legislation that permits parents who care for a young child on a full time basis, or who are caretakers of an elderly or disabled relative, to have jury service deferred or excused upon their request. Usually, breastfeeding mothers fall with the coverage of these statutes, although the statutes vary, and may not be applicable under every circumstance. Currently, twelve states—Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming have some form of "family friendly jury duty legislation." (The laws of Colorado and Massachusetts probably are not applicable to the excuse or deferral of breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.) California has adopted a state-wide court rule which uniformly deals with breastfeeding and jury service. In addition, many individual courts—federal and state—have adopted rules to deal with this situation. Even if a state has neither a specific statute dealing with jury service and breastfeeding, a "family friendly" statute, nor a statewide court rule, it does not necessarily mean that a nursing mother will be required to perform jury duty. Individual court rules or custom, community practice, or other circumstances may permit an excuse or a deferral from jury service for a nursing mother. In the absence of a state law or court rule providing a specific exception for breastfeeding, the nursing mother may or may not be excused on the basis of a general "medical" needs exception. On the other hand, research has not found any court that permits a mother serving on a jury to have her child present in the court room or the jury room, or to breastfeed during court proceedings or jury deliberations. At the present time, eleven states have enacted laws which specifically allow a breastfeeding mother to either postpone or be excused from jury duty. The laws vary significantly in their language and scope. Certain states permit the mother to be excused from jury duty and other states permit the mother to postpone jury duty. The laws are cited to and are summarized below. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 210.5 (2006) requires that the "standardized jury summons shall include a specific reference to the rules for breast-feeding mothers." This rule, discussed below, permits the mother of a breastfed child to postpone jury duty for one year and eliminates the requirement for the mother to appear in court to request a postponement. Idaho Code § 2-212(3) (Michie 2006) provides that a nursing mother may have jury service postponed "upon a showing that the juror is a mother breastfeeding her child." 705 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 305/10.3 (West 2006) provides that "any mother nursing her child shall, upon request, be excused from jury service." Iowa Code Ann. § 607A.5 (West 2006) permits a mother who is breastfeeding and who is responsible for the daily care of the child and is not regularly employed to be excused from serving on a jury. K.S.A. 43-158 (2006) provides that a mother's jury service shall be postponed until she is no longer breastfeeding the child. 2000 Minn. Laws Ch. 269 allows a nursing mother, upon request, to be excused from jury service if she is not employed outside of her home and if she is responsible for the daily care of the child. Miss. Code Ann. § 13-5-23(d) (2006) provides that a juror may be excused when "the potential juror is a breast-feeding mother." Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1601(1), (4) (2006) provides that a nursing mother shall be excused from jury service until she is no longer nursing her child by making such request to the court at the time the jury qualification form is filed with the jury commissioner and including with the request a physician's certificate in support of her request. The jury commissioner shall mail the mother's notification form to be completed and returned to the jury commissioner by the mother when she is no longer nursing the child. Okla. Stat. tit. 38, § 28(D) (2006) provides that breastfeeding mothers may request to be exempted from service as jurors. Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 10.050(4) (2006) permits a breastfeeding woman to be excused from acting as a juror, upon the approval of a written request. Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-341.1(8) (2006) provides an exemption for jury service, upon request, for "any mother who is breast-feeding a child." Some state statutes excuse or postpone jury duty for family caregivers. While they vary, some of these laws may apply to breastfeeding mothers. They are cited and summarized below. In addition to the laws which are discussed below, two other states—Colorado and Massachusetts—have "family friendly jury duty legislation" that do not appear to accommodate breastfeeding activities. Alaska Stat. § 09.20.030(a) (2007) exempts a person from service as a juror upon showing that the health or proper care of the person's family makes it necessary for the person to be excused. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 40.013(4) (2006) provides that an expectant mother or a parent who is not employed full time and who has custody of a child under six years of age may, upon request, be excused from jury service. In addition, the statute provides that a person may be excused from jury service upon a showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity. Ga. Code Ann. § 15-12-1(3) (2006) provides an exemption for jury duty to "any person who is the primary caregiver having active care and custody of a child under six years of age or younger...." 705 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 305/10.2(b) (2006) . A person may be excused from jury service upon showing that jury service would impose an undue hardship on account of the nature of the prospective juror's family situation. It is further provided that when an undue hardship caused by a family situation is due to the prospective juror being the primary caregiver of a child under age 12, the juror is to be excused if the jury commissioner finds that no reasonable alternative care is feasible which would not impose an undue hardship on the prospective juror. N.J. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 2B:20-10(c)(3) (2007) provides an excuse from jury service for a prospective juror having a personal obligation to care for another, including a minor child, who requires the prospective juror's personal care and attention, and no alternative care is available without severe financial hardship on the prospective juror or the person requiring care. S.C. Code Ann. § 14-07-860(B)(1) (2006) provides authority to a judge to excuse jurors for good cause if the person has legal custody and the duty of care for a child less than seven years of age. Tenn. Code Ann. § 22-1-104(b) (2006) provides an excuse from jury service upon a showing that service will constitute an undue hardship and upon making an oath that the person will, if excused, be caring for the person's child, children, grandchild or grandchildren, or ward. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Code Ann. Art. 19.25. [356][407][395](2) (2006) provides that a person responsible for the care of a child younger than eighteen years may be excused from grand jury service. Tex. Gov ' t Code Ann. § 62.106(a)(2) (2006) provides that a person qualified to serve as a petit juror may establish an exemption from jury service if the person has legal custody of a child younger than ten years of age and the person's service on the jury requires leaving the child without adequate supervision. Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-341(8) (2006) provides for an excuse from jury duty for "a person who has legal custody of and is necessarily and personally responsible for a child or children 16 years of age or younger...." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-11-10 4 (2006) provides that a person may be excused from jury duty when the care of that person's young children requires his absence. At the current time, one state's legislature is considering a bill which, if enacted, would impact breastfeeding mothers and their jury duty responsibilities. The bill is cited and summarized below. However, it should be considered, as it is early in the state legislative sessions, that additional bills may be subsequently introduced. Wy. H.B. 105 (2007) is a comprehensive legislative initiative dealing with various aspects of breastfeeding. One of the provisions would allow for breastfeeding mothers to be excused from jury duty. This section of the report deals only with state-wide court rules and federal district court rules for jury service relating to breastfeeding. It does not deal with local, county, or municipal court rules which may provide 1) a specific excuse for breastfeeding mothers; or 2) a general excuse under "family friendly" court rules. Cal.