756.10 Annotation
Claim of grand jury discrimination necessitates federal habeas corpus review. Rose v. Mitchell, 443 US 545 (1979).
756.10 Annotation
The grand jury in Wisconsin. Coffey, Richards, 58 MLR 518.
756.11
756.11
Oath of grand jurors. The judge shall administer the following oath to grand jurors before they begin performance of their duties: You, as grand jurors for the county of ...., do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will diligently inquire as to all matters and things which come before this grand jury; that you will keep all matters which come before this grand jury secret; that you will indict no person for envy, hatred or malice, neither will you leave any person unindicted for love, fear, favor, affection or hope of reward; and that you will indict truly, according to the best of your understanding; so help you God. The clerk of court shall deliver forthwith to each grand juror a copy of such oath.
756.11 History
History: 1975 c. 94 s.
91 (12);
1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.11.
756.12
756.12
Foreman and clerk. The grand jury shall select from their number a foreman and a clerk. The clerk shall preserve the minutes of the proceedings before them and all exhibits.
756.12 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.12.
756.13
756.13
Reporter; oath; salary; assistant. 756.13(1)
(1) Every grand jury shall when ordered by the judge ordering such grand jury, employ one or more competent reporters to attend their sessions and to make and transcribe a verbatim record of all proceedings had before them.
756.13(2)
(2) Before assuming the duties prescribed in this section, each reporter shall make and file an oath faithfully to record and transcribe all the proceedings before the grand jury and to keep secret the matters relative to the proceedings. He or she shall be paid out of the county treasury of the county in which the service is rendered such sum for compensation and expenses as shall be audited and allowed as reasonable by the court ordering the grand jury. Each reporter may employ on his or her own account the assistance of a competent typist to transcribe the testimony and proceedings of the grand jury, but before entering upon duties under this section the typist shall be required to make and file an oath similar to that required of each reporter.
756.13(3)
(3) Every stenographic reporter and every typewriter operator who takes and violates the oath required by this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be imprisoned not less than one nor more than 5 years.
756.13 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.13.
756.14
756.14
Oaths to witnesses. The foreman of every grand jury, district attorney or other prosecuting officer who is before the grand jury may administer all oaths and affirmations in the manner prescribed by law to witnesses who appear before the jury for the purpose of testifying in any matter of which they have cognizance. At the request of the court, the foreman shall return to the court a list, under his or her hand, of all witnesses who are sworn before the grand jury, and the list shall be filed by the clerk.
756.14 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95;
1977 c. 449; Stats. 1977 s. 756.14.
756.145
756.145
Witnesses rights; transcripts. 756.145(1)
(1) Any witness appearing before a grand jury may have counsel present, but the counsel shall not be allowed to examine his or her client, cross-examine other witnesses or argue before the judge. Counsel may consult with his or her client while before a grand jury. If the prosecuting officer, attorney for a witness or a grand juror believes that a conflict of interest exists for an attorney or attorneys to represent more than one witness before a grand jury, the person so believing may make a motion before the presiding judge to disqualify the attorney from representing more than one witness before the grand jury. A hearing shall be held upon notice with the burden upon the moving party to establish the conflict.
756.145(2)
(2) No grand jury transcript may be made public until the trial of anyone indicted by the grand jury and then only that portion of the transcript that is relevant and material to the case at hand. This subsection does not limit the defendant's rights to discovery under
s. 971.23.
756.145 History
History: 1979 c. 291.
756.147
756.147
Secrecy. Notwithstanding
s. 757.14, all motions, including but not limited to those for immunity or a privilege, brought by a prosecuting officer or witness appearing before a grand jury shall be made, heard and decided in complete secrecy and not in open court if the prosecuting officer or witness bringing the motion or exercising the immunity or privilege so requests.
756.147 History
History: 1979 c. 291.
756.15
756.15
District attorney, when to attend. Whenever required by the grand jury it shall be the duty of the district attorney of the county to attend them for the purpose of examining witnesses in their presence or of giving them advice upon any legal matter, and to issue subpoenas and other process to bring up witnesses.
756.15 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.15.
756.16
756.16
Attendance; absence; excuse; number required for grand jury session; number required to concur in indictment. Each grand juror shall attend every session of the grand jury unless excused by the foreman. The foreman may excuse a grand juror from attending a grand jury session only for a reason which appears to the foreman in his or her discretion as good and sufficient cause for the excuse. No business may be transacted at any session of the grand jury at which less than 14 members of the grand jury are in attendance and no indictment may be found by any grand jury unless at least 12 of their number shall concur in the indictment.
756.16 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.16.
756.17
756.17
Report progress and return indictments. Said grand jury so selected may report progress and return indictments to the court from time to time during its session and until discharged.
756.17 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.17.
756.17 Annotation
Grand jury performs a judicial rather than legislative function; therefore, progress report unconnected to an indictment may not be made public. State ex rel. Caledonia v. Racine County Ct. 78 W (2d) 429, 254 NW (2d) 317.
756.18
756.18
Procedure upon discharge of grand jury. When the grand jury is discharged the clerk shall collect all transcripts of testimony, minutes of proceedings, exhibits and other records of the grand jury, and deliver them as the jury directs either to the attorney general or to the district attorney, or upon approval of the court deliver them to the clerk of the court who shall impound them subject to the further order or orders of the court.
756.18 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.18.
756.19
756.19
Indictment not to be disclosed. No grand juror or officer of the court, if the court shall so order, shall disclose the fact that any indictment for a felony has been found against any person not in custody or under recognizance, otherwise than by issuing or executing process on such indictment, until such person has been arrested.
756.19 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.19.
756.20
756.20
Votes not to be disclosed. No grand juror may be allowed to state or testify in any court in what manner he or she or any other member of the jury voted on any question before them, or what opinion was expressed by any juror in relation to the question.
756.20 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.20.
756.21
756.21
When testimony may be disclosed. Members of the grand jury and any grand jury reporter may be required by any court to testify whether the testimony of a witness examined before the jury is consistent with or different from the evidence given by the witness before the court; and they may also be required to disclose the testimony given before the grand jury by any person upon a complaint against the person for perjury, or upon trial for the offense. Any transcript of testimony taken before the grand jury and certified by a grand jury reporter to have been carefully compared by the reporter with his or her minutes of testimony so taken and to be a true and correct transcript of all or a specified portion of the transcript, may be received in evidence with the same effect as the oral testimony of the reporter to the facts so certified, but the reporter may be cross-examined by any party as to the matter.
756.21 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.21.
756.22
756.22
May serve twice. When the grand jury attending any court is dismissed before the court is adjourned they may be summoned to attend again, at such time as the court directs, for the dispatch of any business that may come before the grand jury.
756.22 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95;
1977 c. 449; Stats. 1977 s. 756.22.
756.23
756.23
Fine for nonattendance. If any person lawfully summoned to attend as a juror in any court of record neglects to attend, without any sufficient excuse, he or she shall pay a fine not exceeding $40, which shall be imposed by the court to which the juror was summoned and shall be paid into the county treasury.
756.23 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95; Stats. 1977 s. 756.23.
756.24
756.24
Jurors, how paid. Within 30 days of the day that a juror has completed the service specified in
s. 756.04, the clerk of the court shall prepare an order under
s. 59.64 (1) (g) 1.
756.24 History
History: 1977 c. 187 s.
95;
1977 c. 318,
447; Stats. 1977 s. 756.24;
1987 a. 146;
1995 a. 201.
756.25
756.25
Juror's fees and mileage. 756.25(1)
(1) Every grand and petit juror summoned shall receive an amount, not less than $16, as fixed by the county board, for each day's actual attendance upon any circuit court, and an amount equal to the mileage rate set under
s. 20.916 (8) for each mile actually traveled each day in going and returning by the most usual route. A juror shall not be paid for a day when the court is not in session unless payment is specially ordered by the court. An employer shall grant an employe a leave of absence without loss of time in service for the period of jury service. For the purpose of determining seniority or pay advancement, the status of the employe shall be considered uninterrupted by the service. No employer may use absence due to jury service as a basis for the discharge of an employe or for any disciplinary action against the employe. An employer who discharges or disciplines an employe in violation of this subsection may be fined not more than $200 and may be required to make full restitution to the aggrieved employe, including reinstatement and back pay. Except as provided in this subsection, restitution shall be in accordance with
s. 973.20.
756.25(2)
(2) The county board may pay jurors by the half-day. The payment shall be for one-half of the established daily pay under
sub. (1) and shall not affect the payment for mileage.
756.25(3)
(3) Notwithstanding
subs. (1) and
(2), if a county has established a system under
s. 756.28 (1) in which jurors are summoned to serve for only one day or one trial, the county board may determine the amount to be paid jurors for the first day of actual attendance and the amount to be paid jurors for traveling to and from the court for the first day of actual attendance.
756.26
756.26
Talesmen's compensation. Every talesman, summoned and acting as a juror, shall receive the same compensation as jurors, as provided in
s. 756.25.
756.26 History
History: 1977 c. 187 ss.
95,
135; Stats. 1977 s. 756.26.
756.27
756.27
Automation of jury selection. The procedures for selection of jurors and juries under
ss. 756.04 to
756.10 may be accomplished by electronic automated systems, wherever appropriate.
756.27 History
History: 1977 c. 318; Stats. 1977 s. 255.27;
1977 c. 447; Stats. 1977 s. 756.27.
756.28
756.28
Length of juror service; periods of juror eligibility. 756.28(1)(1)
One day or one trial. A county with a population of less than 325,000 may establish a system in which a person summoned under
s. 756.08 may not be required to serve or attend court for prospective service as a petit juror for more than one day in a 2-year period, unless more days are necessary to complete service in a particular case. A county with a population of 325,000 or more may establish a system in which a person summoned under
s. 756.08 may not be required to serve or attend court for prospective service as a petit juror for more than one day in a 4-year period, unless more days are necessary to complete service in a particular case. In a system established under this subsection, a petit juror whose deliberation ends with a verdict may not be required to participate in a 2nd trial even though the juror may not have completed the first day of juror service at the time of the commencement of the 2nd trial.
756.28(2)
(2) General 2-year eligibility. In a county that does not establish a system under
sub. (1), a person may be summoned under
s. 756.08 to serve as a petit juror during a period not exceeding 6 months in any 2-year period. During the period in which a person may be summoned, the person may not be required to serve or attend court for prospective service as a petit juror for a total of more than 5 days of actual court attendance unless more days are necessary to complete service in a particular case or unless a majority of the judges of courts of record for the county adopt by rule a longer time period that does not exceed 10 days. In any 2-year period, no person may be required to serve both as a grand and petit juror.
Effective date note
NOTE: Sub. (2) is repealed and recreated eff. 7-1-97 by Supreme Court Order No. 95-11 to read:
756.28 Note
(2) General 4-year eligibility. In a county that does not establish a system under sub. (1), a person may be required to be available for service as a grand or petit juror only once in any 4-year period. The period for which any person may be required to be available for service shall not exceed 31 days, and no person shall be required to serve, or attend court for prospective service, as a juror for a total of more than 5 days of actual corut attendance unless more days are necessary to complete service in a particular case.
Effective date note
History: 1991 a. 271; Sup. Ct. Order No.
95-11, filed 5-29-96, eff. 7-1-97.
756.28 Note
NOTE: 1991 Wis. Act 271, which created this section, contains extensive legislative council notes.
