COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law Tuesday that allows breastfeeding mothers, who are prospective jurors, to be excused from jury duty.
House Bill 34 was first introduced to the Ohio House of Representatives in February 2023 by Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Angela King (R-Celina). It then moved to the Civil Justice Committee for discussion and was passed unanimously to the Senate in September.
The Senate moved it to the Judiciary Committee for discussion and passed the bill unanimously on April 10.
The new addition reads that a juror may be excused if the following applies: “A signed affidavit that a prospective juror described in division ( C)(1)(d) of this section provides to the judge and states that the prospective juror is a mother who is breast-feeding her baby is satisfactory documentation to support the prospective juror’s request to be excused based on undue or extreme physical or financial hardship.”
The law outlines exceptions for those who must serve jury duty - with the new addition of mothers breastfeeding babies one year of age or younger.
Some of the reasonings for a person being excused include:
- The interests of the public will be materially injured by the juror's attendance
- The juror's spouse or a near relative of the juror or the juror's spouse has recently died or is dangerously ill
- The juror is a cloistered member of a religious organization
- The prospective juror has a mental or physical condition that causes the prospective juror to be incapable of performing jury service
- Jury service would otherwise cause undue or extreme physical or financial hardship to the prospective juror or a person under the care or supervision of the prospective juror
- The juror is over 75 years of age, and the juror requests to be excused
- The prospective juror is an active member of a recognized Amish sect and requests to be excused
- The prospective juror is on active duty pursuant to an executive order of the president of the United States
The full law with all exceptions can be viewed here.