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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. “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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. QUESTIONS
After questions, a short lunch break…

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

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

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

34. 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

35. 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!

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. GRAND JURY LAW (Chapter 11)
Grand Jury civil law is in the California Penal Code (sections 888 – ), 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

40. 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)

41. 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

42. Are there any questions about the topics we have covered?