Attorney General Opinion WW-0910

. - ~A~~O~~'EYGENEILAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN 11. - ‘IYILL WILSON A--G- August 22, 1960 Honorable Jimmy Morris Oplnlon No. Ww-910 County Attorney Navarro County Re: Does Article 2135, Corsicana, Texas Vernon's Civil Stat- utes, relating to jury service apply to members of the Grand Dear Mr. Morris: Jury Panel? In your letter requesting an opinjon from this office you ask whether Article 2135, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended, applies to members of the Grand Jury Panel. You state In your letter that: "No where in the Code of Criminal Pro- cedure is there a provision for excuses for members of the Grand Jury Panel. . . .' Article 339, Vernon's Code of Criminal Procedure, sets out the qualifications of a grand juror. Article 352 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the court shall prcceed to teat the qualifications of those summoned to serve as grand jurors. Article 356 provldeathat the court may excuse those persons summoned who do not possess the necessary qual?flcations. Under Article 356, Vernon's Code of Criminal Procedure, it has been held that a court may excuse from service on the grand jury citizens whose reasons as presented to the court appeal to his sound discretion and are such,as to justify his action. Rob~inson v. State, 244 S.W. 599 (Tex. Grim. 19.12). Article 2135, Vernon's Civil Statutes, applies to exemp- tions and not to excuses. It provides in part that: "All competent jurors are liable to jury tervice, except the following persons: . . . Honorable Jimmy Morris, page 2 (WW-910) Then follows a list of those persons who are exempt from jury service. It is well settled that those persons ,exempt from jury service under Article 2135, Vernon's Civil Statutes, are not disqualified from grand jury service, but that the exemp- tion is a personal privilege to be claimed or waived by them, and that it Is only when they claim their exemption that they are entitled to be released from grand Owens v. State, 8 S.W. 658 127 1053 (Tex. (Tex. Ct. App.~l88 4 ury service. ); Edgar v. State, Crlm. 1910); 20-B Tex. vd Jury, Section 12. Section 3, 39 Tex. Jur. "Statutes," p. 12, reads in part as follows: 9, . . . Nor is it necessarily essential that a given provision be placed in a particular code in order that it may be effective; on the con- trary an article of the Penal Code may Impose a civil duty, or the Civil Statutes may contain pro- visions governing the trial of~both civil and criminal cases. . . .It Further, Article 336 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states in part: " . . . The clerk shall furnish . . . 'the names of those appearing from the records of the court to be exempt or disqualified from serving eon the jury . . .n ,, (Emphasis added) Inasmuch as the word ekempt was used in the above statute and Is not mentioned further In the Code of Criminal Procedure, and in view of the other statutes and cases cited above, it is the opinionof this office that Article 2135, Vernon's Civil Statutes, does apply to members of a grand jury panel. SUMMARY Under Article~356, Vernon's Code of Criminal Prokedure, a'court may excuse from grand jury service citizens whose reasons appeal to his sound discretion. Those persons classified as exempt under Article 2135, Vernon's Civil Honorable Jimmy Morris, page 3 @W-910) Statutes, are entitled to be released from grand jury service If they claim their exemp- tion. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas MJS:mm:ms Assistant APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman C. Dean Davis Riley Eugene Fletcher Phocion S. Park III Iola B. Wilcox $IEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL : Houghton Brownlee, Jr.