Broken Arrow Lawmakers Want Police Officers Exempted From Jury Duty

Two Broken Arrow lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would keep law enforcement officers from having to serve jury duty.

The bill passed the House on Monday with a vote of 51 to 44.

The Chairman of Tulsa's Fraternal Order of Police, Jerad Lindsey,  says the bill helps taxpayers and members of the community.

Lindsey says, "if the citizens of the City of Tulsa are paying police officers to go be police officers and be in a police car, we really shouldn't be sitting in the courthouses reading magazines."

However, opponents of the bill say that there aren't enough jurors to handle the number of jury trials.

Currently, Oklahoma law provides that law enforcement officers cannot serve as jurors on criminal trials.  They can, however, be called to serve on non-criminal trials, but are often dismissed during jury selection.