Advocate Staff
Updated: 02/12/2009 08:12:16 AM PST
The grand jury system, in existence in California since 1879, is governed by Title 4 of the California Penal Code, mandated by the California Constitution as part of the judicial branch and is an arm of the superior court judicial system.
A grand jury is an investigative body to detect and correct flaws in government; it is not a police agency or political group.
Grand juries monitor local finances to determine if the public's money is being handled judiciously, and that all accounts are properly audited. In general, they help assure honest, efficient government in the best interest of the people. A grand jury is not accountable to elected officials or government employees.
Members of the grand jury are collectively granted special powers and privileges to aid them in carrying out their duties. In an official capacity, they are permitted, with limited exceptions, access to and the right to inspect government facilities, and to review official books and records which other citizens are denied access. They may issue subpoenas when necessary.
While it is a part of the judicial system, a grand jury is an entirely independent body. The presiding judge of the Superior Court, the district attorney, county counsel, and the state attorney general all act as advisors, but cannot prevent the actions of the jury except on issues of legality.
The grand jury is an investigatory body empanelled for the protection of society with the authority and responsibility to act as a civil watchdog to conduct investigations on county, city, schools and special district government institutions. Almost any entity that receives public money can be examined.
The grand jury also has the power to accuse public officials of improper actions in the performance of official duties. If evidence warrants, the jury files formal charges.
Certain activities of the grand jury are mandated. The California Penal Code requires the grand jury to inspect the conditions and management of public prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities within the county and to review county financial accounts and records.
The grand jury serves as an ombudsman for county citizens. They are free to select any areas of interest and government agencies they wish to study, as well as follow-up on private citizen complaints, which are kept strictly confidential. Many citizen complaint investigations are received through letters, phone calls and personal contact with jury members.
Most county grand juries in California do not consider criminal matters, although, by law, they are able to. The decision of whether or not to present criminal cases to the grand jury is made by the district attorney.
The grand jury is empowered to investigate situations wherever agencies or officers have acted improperly, but not cases where someone disagrees with an agency's or officer's actions or decisions. The grand jury may not investigate a private organization or company.
Jurors are sworn to not disclose the source of evidence obtained through any investigation. All grand jury business is conducted in secret — in closed session — and all information and discussions are considered highly confidential. The minutes of its meetings may not be inspected by anyone, nor can its records be subpoenaed.
Their work is kept strictly confidential except for the required final reports of their findings and recommendations at which time the final reports become public record and are available for public review.
The protection of whistleblowers is one of the primary reasons for the confidential nature of their work.
Other reasons are to protect the accused innocent who is exonerated from disclosure of the fact that he has been under investigation and from the expense of standing trial when there was probably no guilt, to ensure the utmost freedom to the jury in its deliberations, to prevent subordination of perjury or tampering with witnesses, to encourage free and untrammeled disclosures by persons who have information with respect to the commission of a crime, and to prevent the escape of those whose indictment may be contemplated.
The prime objective of the grand jury is to help improve the overall functioning of governmental entities. County government procedures, methods and systems are reviewed and evaluated to determine if more efficient (are the right things being done?), effective (are they getting results?), and economical (are they doing it in a cost-effective manner?) programs might be employed.
To accomplish this, jurors review the day-to-day operational aspects of a program, organization, or entity and report on their findings.
If a jury wishes to examine a subject a prior jury was looking at, it must initiate its own investigation and independently verify all information. It may use information obtained from the prior jury but the information must be verified before it can be used by the current jury. Upon completing its investigation, the jury may, but is not required, to issue a report detailing its findings and recommendations.
The grand jury is required to publish a minimum of one report containing a minimum of one finding and one recommendation. The published reports are the only public record of the grand jury's work. Each published report includes a list of those public entities required or requested to respond. The format of the responses is dictated by California Penal Code Section 933.05, as is the time span in which they must respond.
Citizens volunteer to serve on the grand jury. From the pool of applications, 19 are selected by the Superior Court judge to make up a grand jury and act as an arm of the court. Jurors serve for a period of one year. The California Penal Code, Sections 888 to 940, governs jurors. Every county in California has at least one grand jury, and in some cases, larger counties have more.
Authority for the grand jury system is found in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and in Article 1, Section 23 of the California Constitution, which state: Article 1, Section 23 "... One or more grand juries shall be drawn and summoned once a year in each county."
Grand jurors generally serve for one year and are usually empanelled in the first week of the fiscal or calendar year to coincide with the county's budget year. Up to 10 jurors may be held over for a second term.
Statutory requirements
Legal references related to grand jury budgets and expenditures include:
Penal Code Section 914.5:
"The grand jury shall not spend money or incur obligations in excess of the amount budgeted for its investigative activities by the Board of Supervisors unless the proposed expenditure is approved in advance by the presiding judge of the superior court after the Board of Supervisors has been advised of the request."
Penal Code Section 925:
"The grand jury shall investigate and report on the operations, accounts and records of officers, departments or functions of the county including those operations, accounts, and records of any special legislative district or other district in the county created pursuant to state law for which the officers of the county are serving in their ex officio capacity as officers of the districts.
"The investigations may be conducted on some selective basis each year, but the grand jury shall not duplicate any examination of financial statements which has been performed by or for the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Government Code Section 25250. This provision shall not be construed to limit the power of the grand jury to investigate and report on the operations, accounts, and records of the officers, departments, or functions of the county. The grand jury may enter into a joint contract with the Board of Supervisors to employ the services of an expert as provided in Section 926."
Government Code 25250:
"At least biennially, the Board of Supervisors shall examine and audit or cause to be audited the financial accounts and records of all officers having responsibility for the care, management, collection, or disbursement of money belonging to the county or money received or disbursed by them under authority of law. The audit shall encompass the immediately preceding two-year period, or any portion thereof not included in a prior audit ...."
Penal Code Section 926:
"... The grand jury may employ one or more experts, at an agreed compensation, to be first approved by the court," for the purposes of its investigation under sections 925 (county accounts and operations), 925a (books, records and operations of city and joint powers agency), 928 (needs of county officers), 933.1 (books, records and operations of redevelopment agency, housing authority, joint powers agency), and 933.5 (books, records and operations of special purpose assessing or taxing district, i.e. special district or commission).
The expenditures for investigations under Penal Code Section 933.5 shall not exceed $30,000 annually, unless approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Penal Code Section 926:
"Any contract entered into by a grand jury pursuant to this section may include services to be performed after the discharge of the grand jury, but in no event may a jury contract for services be performed later than 6 months after the end of the fiscal year during which the jury was impaneled.
"Any contract entered into by a grand jury pursuant to this section shall stipulate that the product of the contract shall be delivered on or before a time certain to the then current grand jury ... for such use as that jury finds appropriate to its adopted objectives."
http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/localnews/ci_11688430
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