Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §1204, as amended by PL 1977, c. 102, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: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Sec. 2. 14 MRSA §1207 is repealed.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 foreman 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 foreman 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 alternate 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 6