The deadline to apply for a spot on the
2015-2016 grand jury has been extended to January 30, a recurring issue in
recent years as too few candidates, generally from north Orange County, apply
for a spot on the watchdog body.
“We are hopeful that by extending the
application deadline, a sufficient number of qualified individuals will apply,
especially from the cities of Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Fountain
Valley, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, and Santa Ana,” said Superior Court
Assistant Presiding Judge Charles Margines Tuesday in a news release.
It’s the third straight year judges have
extended the deadline for those interested in serving on the 19-member grand
jury.
“It’s more and more a struggle,” to attract
qualified grand jury applicants, court spokeswoman Gwen Vieau said last year.
The problem stems in part from the fact that serving on the grand jury is
essentially “a full year, fulltime commitment.”
Vieau noted last year that some other large
counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside, have created two
separate grand juries, one to handle criminal matters with the District
Attorney’s office and the other as a civilian watchdog. But Orange County
retains the traditional system of combining both roles.
Grand jurors receive $50 per day for up to
five days a week, plus mileage and free parking, although in the past when
county supervisors didn’t like grand jury findings, the supervisors threatened
to cut their pay and refused to provide $20,000 to finish one study.
And the 2013-2014 grand jury recommended the
county establish an independent ethics commission, a subject of debate in the
current campaign to fill the Board of Supervisors seat held by Janet Nguyen who
was elected to the state Senate in November.
The jurors perform three roles. They conduct
“civil oversight of local government” including reviewing, evaluating and
writing reports with findings and recommendations on county and city agencies,
jails, school and special districts.
Separately, they consider potential
indictments in criminal cases and review complaints submitted by citizens.
The new term begins July 1 and ends June 30,
2016.
To serve on the grand jury, the law requires
a candidate to be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, a resident of Orange
County for at least one year, have a good command of written and spoken English
and be “in possession of sound judgment and a sense of fairness.”
Qualified applicants are interviewed by
Superior Court judges. The pool is narrowed to 25 to 30 nominees representing
each of the five supervisorial districts. The final 19-member grand jury comes
from a random drawing of the 25 to 30 nominees.
Application forms and additional information
are online at www.ocgrandjury.org. Applicants may also call 657-622-6747, or
apply in person at the Jury Commissioner’s Office, 700 Civic Center Drive West,
Santa Ana.
January 15,
2015
Voice of OC
By Tracy
Wood
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