BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Some people convicted of felonies in Louisiana would be able to serve on juries for civil and criminal cases, under a bill sent to the governor’s desk.

The proposal by Rep. Denise Marcelle, a Baton Rouge Democrat, won final legislative passage Thursday with a 23-13 Senate vote. The House earlier had narrowly backed the measure with a 55-42 vote.

Under current law, people convicted of a felony crime can only serve on a jury if they have been pardoned by a governor. Marcelle’s bill would change that to allow people convicted of felonies to be eligible for jury service if they’ve been off probation or parole and out of prison for five years.

If Gov. John Bel Edwards agrees to the idea, the change would take effect in August.
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The bill is filed as House Bill 84.