With the publicity surrounding
recent grand jury decisions in a number of states, there is a heightened
interest in what a grand jury is and what jurors do. The grand jury in San Luis
Obispo County is not a criminal grand jury. It has the responsibility to
investigate local government, not criminal cases.
That responsibility includes
investigating operations of local government, boards, commissions, departments,
programs, finance and public officials. The grand jury may investigate any and
all of these functions within the county.
I write to encourage San Luis
Obispo County residents to apply for the 2015/2016 grand jury. The application
process covering the fiscal year is underway and ends April 10.
As the current president of the
Former Grand Jurors Association and a former member of the grand jury for two
years, I can attest that grand jury service is a tremendously rewarding
experience providing at least three exceptional benefits not usually available
to ordinary citizens.
San Luis Obispo County grand
jurors play a distinct but vitally important role in government. They have
broad oversight powers to investigate and comment upon the activities of the
county and those cities, special districts and other organizations in the
county that, collectively, constitute our local government.
Significantly, only grand
jurors decide what to investigate, when to investigate, how to investigate,
whether to comment by report on their investigation and, if so, what to say and
when in their term to say it. They are self-starting, self-motivated and
selfdirected; no one can tell them what to investigate, how to conduct their
investigation or what conclusions to reach as a result. Thus, the first unique
benefit of service is that jurors will have a meaningful, independent say in
local government.
The second unique benefit is a
considerably enhanced understanding of the operations and personnel involved in
local government. One cannot have been a grand juror and not have gained a much
greater understanding of how the county and the local governments within it
function and of the people who oversee them.
The third unique benefit is a
bit more difficult to describe, but it consists of a renewed sense of faith in
citizen democracy — in the idea that people of good faith, despite their
disagreements, may find common ground in the search for compromise,
collegiality and the desire to move forward. A grand jury consists of 19 people
who initially might not even know each other. They are from diverse backgrounds
and educations, they have different religious and political views, but they
have one thing in common: a belief that what they are doing matters and if
everyone listens as well as speaks, and respects those with whom they disagree,
the democratic process of give and take among equals will yield the best
result.
Whatever one’s views outside
the grand jury room might be, one cannot complete a term as a grand juror
without having gained an increased willingness to consider the views of others,
to your ultimate advantage.
You can find additional
information and an application form online at www.slo courts.net/grandjury/ application/form or call the deputy jury commissioner
at 781-5143. A pool of 30 candidates will be created from the applicants. After
these candidates are interviewed, a list of names is selected from which 19
names are drawn at random by the deputy jury commissioner to serve as members
of the next grand jury.
I believe that you will find
your experience on the grand jury to be interesting and rewarding.
February
19, 2015
The
Tribune
Viewpoint by Edward Kreins
Nipomo resident Edward Kreins
served on the county grand jury for two terms, from 2011 to 2013. He was
foreman during his second term.
No comments:
Post a Comment