Bill would add state I.D. holders to jury pool

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A bill passed the state Senate unanimously that would help deepen the pool of jurors in the state of Kentucky.

As of right now, in order for a person’s name to be put into a list of potential jurors, the person must have a driver’s license, be registered to vote or file resident individual income tax returns.

Senate Bill 132 would add a new group to that master list of prospective jurors for a county.

If the bill passes, anyone with a state issued personal identification card would also have their names on the master list.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said the deeper the jury pool, the better.

“Individuals can obtain a Kentucky I.D. card if they are a legal, permanent resident alien here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. You have to be a citizen to serve on jury duty so it’ll take some process to go through and probably some expansion of questioning of jury panels to make sure that if this bill does pass it will conform with the current jury requirements,” said Cohron.

The bill will next go to the House, and if it passes, to the governor’s desk.