Monday, May 12, 2014

(Tulare County) Grand jury sets compliance bar

Editor's note:
The Times-Delta and Advance-Register regularly test agencies to see how they respond to a citizen request for a public document. This week, our Secret Citizen visited the office of the Tulare County Grand Jury.

I arrived at the office of the Tulare County Grand Jury, located on the second floor of Government Plaza, 5963 S. Mooney Boulevard, on Friday at 10:15 a.m.

The reason for my visit was to view a copy of the Civil Grand Juror Selection List. A civil grand jury consists of 19 jurors plus three or more alternates.

After waiting for a short time in the lobby, I was greeted by Annette Jones, who quickly provided me with a copy of the list. She also provided me with a lot of useful and interesting information about the Grand Jury.

For example, she briefly explained the selection process, which consists of filling out an application, and if qualified, being interviewed. If selected, jurors serve a one-year term from July 1 through June 30. The presiding judge — currently the Honorable Gary Paden — has the option to continue up to 10 jurors into a second one-year term.

The jury’s primary function is to act as a “watchdog,” acting on citizens’ complaints by investigating the conduct of local government to ensure that officials and departments are functioning as required.

Members meet once each week and generally work about 20 to 30 hours a week and receive a per diem of $15 for each day they work, plus mileage. The jury is further broken into committees which also hold regular meetings. At the end of its term, the jury must publish an annual report.

To qualify to be a member of the jury, an applicant must be at least 18 years old, must be a United States Citizen, must have been a resident of the county for at least a year and must have sufficient knowledge of the English language. Additionally, applicants cannot have been convicted of malfeasance or any felony or high crime. Finally, they cannot be currently serving in public office or serving on a trial jury.

I left the office, jury list — and application — in hand, at 10:25. At no time was I challenged or asked why I wanted to see the list, nor was I asked to identify myself, and all contact was polite and professional. All my questions were answered on the spot.

Based on the Times-Delta’s grading criterion, Secret Citizen awards the Grand Jury office an A+.

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