ORIENTATION: Grand Jury 101 Presented to the 2015/2016 Shasta County Grand Jury By Marsha Caranci Karen Jahr Larry Johnson

GRAND JURY 101 PART 1: GETTING STARTED In this hour, we will cover: The Grand Jury’s relationship to the Court and County Rules of Procedure—your Procedures Manual Meetings and attendance Annual timeline of Grand Jury activities Our focus – Shasta County Grand Jury

THE JURY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SUPERIOR COURT Grand Jurors are selected by and act under the direction of the Superior Court The Grand Jury is “an arm of the court” A juror acts as a member of the state’s judicial branch Presiding Judge gives jurors a charge and provides general supervision

WHO’S WHO IN THE COURT Superior Court judges select the Presiding Judge (PJ) who holds a two-year term PJ Gregory Gaul handles Grand Jury administrative matters on behalf of the judges Court Administrators: Executive Officer: Melissa Fowler-Bradley Asst Exec Officer: John Zeis Ordinarily, only Foreperson may contact the court

THE JURY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COUNTY The County pays for the Grand Jury, including per diem and mileage, and all budgeted expenditures Services to the Grand Jury include: Budget development and oversight Purchasing of supplies; equipment rentals Information technology services Printing of reports and the Manual Legal services

WHO’S WHO IN THE COUNTY County Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Lees and Analyst Megan Dorney: budget, jury’s rented space (“meeting room”), supplies and equipment Clerk of the Board Glenda Tracy: Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700) Information Technology: Grand Jury’s website and IT support services

WHO’S WHO IN THE COUNTY County mail room: printing the bound Consolidated Final Report and the Procedures Manual County Counsel: Senior Deputy County Counsel David Yorton, legal advisor on operations and civil investigations District Attorney: Stephen Carlton, legal advisor for accusations, indictments and if criminal activities are uncovered

MONEY MATTERS County pays each juror $15 per diem, plus mileage For any day juror attends one or more activities Activities: meeting of full jury or committee if quorum present, or authorized interview or inspection Only one payment per day, even if several activities Jury has a budget that it must live within Jury should “bundle” activities to control expenditures

PROCEDURES MANUAL Covers all aspects of Grand Jury service: Formation (juror qualifications and selection) Organization (officers and committees) Conduct of meetings Juror conduct Ethics and collegiality How to conduct investigations and write reports Criminal functions Statutory and case law

“RULES OF PROCEDURE” Penal Code requires each Grand Jury to adopt its own “Rules of Procedure” Your Grand Jury Procedures Manual constitutes your Rules of Procedure Briefly review the Manual and adopt it ASAP, so you can start your year’s work early in the term May amend as needed

CONDUCT AND PROCEDURES (Chapter 3) Conflicts of interest and ethics Confidentiality Budget and training First few meetings Get organized Establish meeting schedule Set ground rules

GRAND JURY MEETINGS (Chapter 3) Full panel meetings and committee meetings Grand Jury sets its own schedule for meetings Agendas and minutes required by Procedures Foreperson or committee chair prepares agenda Minutes of panel meetings taken by Recording Secretary Committee Activity Notes form used by committees

MEETING PROCEDURES A quorum for conducting business is 12 jurors Supermajority vote (12 votes) required for Adoption or amendment of Procedures Manual, and “Public actions” of the jury Majority vote (10) or consensus for everything else Jury acts by motion, second, discussion, and vote

ATTENDANCE (Chapter 3) Each juror should attend all Grand Jury meetings and assigned committee meetings However, can be absent for medical reasons and family vacations—but give notice Foreperson and chairs should give jurors ample notice of meetings, inspections, and interviews

RESIGNATIONS AND REMOVALS (Chapter 3) A juror may resign at any time, in writing, to the PJ Foreperson should deal with a juror who is causing problems, but may not discharge PJ may remove a juror for misconduct, repeated absence or other good cause, in PJ’s sole discretion Jury may vote to require Foreperson or other representative to seek assistance of County Counsel

TIMELINE OF GRAND JURY ACTIVITIES (Chapter 4) Take a look at page 31 Month by month list of recommended activities Review of the Timeline should be on the jury’s meeting agenda at least monthly

COMING UP THIS AFTERNOON Grand Jury 101, Part 2: Officers and committees Appointments Descriptions of committee activities Grand Jury 101, Part 3: Juror ethics Secrecy and confidentiality Legal advisors and Grand Jury law

QUESTIONS After questions, a short lunch break…

GRAND JURY 101: PART 2: OFFICERS/COMMITTEES In this hour, we will cover: Officers Committees Selection of officers and committee chairs and making committee assignments Changing officers or committees

OFFICERS (Chapter 5) Foreperson: appointed by the PJ as required by Penal Code section 912 Other officers per your Manual (not required by law): Foreperson Pro Tem Recording Secretary Corresponding Secretary Sergeant-at-Arms Librarian

FOREPERSON’S ROLE Foreperson has just one vote The jury acts by voting on motions Foreperson has just one vote Foreperson has several additional duties and a few additional powers Foreperson keeps the jury on track Acts as a facilitator, not “the boss” or gatekeeper

FOREPERSON’S DUTIES Nominates officers, proposes committee assignments Prepares meeting agendas and leads meetings Interfaces with the PJ, County Counsel, DA, etc. Signs indictments* and correspondence Administers oaths* Acts as the jury’s spokesperson at end of term* Handles other administrative tasks *Required by law

FOREPERSON PRO TEM Acts as Foreperson in absence or disqualification (recusal) of Foreperson Assists Foreperson with administrative and personnel issues Acts as the Grand Jury’s training officer

RECORDING SECRETARY Takes minutes of meetings (the full jury reviews, amends, adopts them) Keeps a record of attendance at meetings; provides notice of meetings Ensures that absent jurors get copies of documents distributed during a missed meeting

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Receives, organizes and safeguards all other Grand Jury paperwork Picks up and distributes the mail Prepares the correspondence and complaint logs Prepares correspondence approved by the Grand Jury

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Keeps outsiders out of meeting room during jury deliberations Maintains order and security of the meeting room Ensures that confidential documents which are no longer needed are destroyed in a confidential manner

LIBRARIAN Maintains the Grand Jury’s library, including materials acquired or produced by former juries Reviews library materials for destruction or retention Maintains confidentiality of materials related to investigations With Continuity Committee, keeps track of responses to Grand Jury reports

COMMITTEES (Chapter 6) Standing and ad hoc Investigative standing committees might include: Audit and Finance County Government City Government Local Districts and Agencies Criminal Justice

DUTIES OF INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEES Make initial review of complaints and topic ideas and recommend acceptance or rejection by panel Conduct investigations (research, tours, observations, interviews) Write (and re-write) reports But the reports are Grand Jury reports, not committee reports

ADMINISTRATIVE AND AD HOC COMMITTEES Administrative standing committees might include: Editorial Continuity Information Technology Executive Standing committees will be discussed with you this afternoon Ad hoc committees can be formed when needed

SELECTION PROCESS Jurors fill out Officer/Committee Assignment Questionnaires Foreperson nominates officers and proposes committee assignments Entire jury votes on officers and committee assignments Committees choose own chairs Officers, chairs and assignments can be changed

QUESTIONS? Any questions about the topics we’ve covered so far?

GRAND JURY 101: PART 3: LEGAL ISSUES Grand juror ethics Secrecy and confidentiality Legal advisors Grand Jury law

GRAND JUROR ETHICS (Chapter 3) Objectivity, fairness, freedom from bias When a juror must recuse Local agency employment within three years: advise PJ and foreperson Other actual or perceived conflict: business relationship, family ties, political activities, personal feelings, etc. Recusal procedures Describe situation; jury may direct juror’s recusal Recusal is complete—no input on investigation or report Put disclaimer in report

SECRECY AND CONFIDENTIALITY (Chapter 3) Central to effectiveness of Grand Jury Protects whistle blowers Each juror must forever keep secret: All evidence, anything that any juror said about a complaint or investigation, and how any juror voted Disclosure is a misdemeanor!

MORE ON CONFIDENTIALITY Safeguard all documents and communications Press releases are OK, but they cannot include information not in report Only evidence, investigations, juror comments, and votes are confidential Juror may discuss with outsiders general information not related to a complaint or investigation

ADVISORS (Chapter 9) Judge: administrative direction County Counsel: advice on internal operations and civil investigations DA: advice on criminal matters Attorney General: if County Counsel/DA not available Outside counsel (private firm): if all above attorneys have a conflict

GETTING LEGAL ADVICE Ordinarily through Foreperson But also whenever 10 or more jurors vote to seek advice from County Counsel or DA Can have committee or entire jury meet with County Counsel Advice can be oral or written, and about any matter County Counsel also reviews draft reports

GRAND JURY LAW (Chapter 11) Grand Jury civil law is in the California Penal Code (sections 888 – 939.91), plus some case law Other codes and cases govern the operations of local governments The CGJA seminar will introduce you to the law Some legal materials are in the Manual at Chapter 11

OTHER TOPICS COVERED BY YOUR MANUAL Judge’s charge (Chapter 2) Investigations and interviews (Chapter 7) Reports and publicity (Chapter 8) The Grand Jury’s website (Chapter 8)

OTHER TOPICS COVERED BY YOUR MANUAL SCGJA (Chapter 9) Oaths and admonitions (Chapter 10) Criminal functions (Chapter 10) Appendix The jury should review the Manual throughout the year

Are there any questions about the topics we have covered?