A bill filed by Rep. Debbie Riddle, R–Tomball, in the 83rd legislative session could help increase turnout for jury duty in Texas. House Bill 433 would provide employers up to a 15-percent discount on their state business margins tax if they choose to compensate employees with a day's worth of pay for each day off during jury duty.

Approximately 40 percent of those summoned for jury duty in Harris County ignore the call, costing tax payers thousands of dollars in postage, paper and labor, said Chris Daniel, Harris County district clerk. The office saves about $100,000 for every 5-percent increase in appearance rate, he said.

"In addition to costing taxpayers money, it shortens the time that it takes for us to go through our database of names," Daniel said. "Increasing participation addresses those issues, but also instills greater confidence in the justice system."

Riddle worked with the Harris County District Clerk's office while composing her bill. In a press release, she wrote that low-wage workers in particular industries are not paid by their employers for time spent off during jury duty.

"For some of these workers, it is an issue of not being able to feed their families or pay their rent if they lose a day or more of pay," she said.

A person making $320 per week is likely to view jury duty as a $200 loss, Daniel estimates. HB 433 provides employers with an incentive to pay employees who have jury duty, which will ideally encourage more people to heed the call when summoned, he said.

"When we approached the challenge of increasing jury duty service, it was important to us that we didn't come up with a solution that was punitive," Daniel said. "If we mandated, regardless of cost, that every business in Texas had to pay employees for jury services, that's going to drive up the cost of business and hurt the people we're trying to help. This is pro business while also being pro jury and pro justice."

Since Daniel took over as district clerk in 2011, increasing the appearance rate at jury duty has been a priority. During the past two years, the district clerk's office has seen jury duty response increase from 50 percent to 60 percent, but Daniel said there is still a lot of room for improvement.

In addition to supporting Riddle's bill, his said his office plans on continuing its campaign to raise awareness about the importance of jury duty through public service announcements and billboards promoting the act as an important civic duty.

"If you know fewer people are participating on the broad scale, you have less confidence in that specific jury," he said. "Our goal is to make sure we have a true cross-representation of Harris County represented on each jury."

Information on all bills that have been filed in the Texas House of Representatives can be found on its website.