While it pays to serve on a jury, but not very much.

Some lawmakers are wanting to put more money in jurors pockets for fulfilling their civic duty.

Republican state Senator Whitney Westerfield is the sponsor of Senate Bill 22.

It would raise jury pay to a flat rate of $125 a day.

Currently, jurors are paid $5 a day, plus 750 to reimburse expenses.

That doesn't cover what you have to pay that day.

You may have to pay to park in our bigger cities.

You may have to buy a meal that you could hardly get for $12 or $0.50, much less $7.50.

I think it ought to be higher.

Many in yesterday's committee meeting, both Republicans and Democrats, said they agreed with the idea of raising juror pay, including Senator Amanda Mace Bledsoe of Lexington, who described her own ordeal with being summoned for jury duty.

I had two babies under five, and I was a stay at home mom at that time, was not working and pay the babysitter $15 an hour to watch my kids for three days because I didn't have daycare and didn't have support.

And I was happy to do it.

Well, I wasn't happy.

I was grateful to serve.

Yes.

But there was a part of me that said I could do this, but many people can't.

This is a fundamentally critical part of our criminal justice system.

And when we ask individuals to come and do this, it's not just they're coming and they're being, quote unquote, underpaid to do this.

They are actually in putting themselves in a situation where they're engaging in something fundamental to our system, yet takes them out of their mode of living each day that they count on going forward.

And I think that we ought to strengthen this part of the system.

Senator Westerfield said his bill would cost a little more than $17 million a year.

Senator Christian McDaniel, chair of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, declined to put the bill to a vote.

Instead, he said it would need to be considered in the confines of the state's two year budget bill.

A similar bill being considered in the House calls for raising juror pay to $25 a day.