California’s Unusual Grand Jury System and Its Proposed Reform

Grand Juries Generally

        Typically, grand juries are summoned to examine criminal accusations and determine whether sufficient evidence exists to formally charge the accused with a crime.

California’s Grand Jury System

        California’s grand jury system began with the adoption of its state Constitution in 1849. Since then, every year, a group of eligible citizens are appointed as grand jurors in each of California’s 58 counties. Unlike most grand juries, California’s grand juries are not limited to investigating criminal matters. Instead, the California grand jury has three functions.

        First, the grand jury investigates the operations of the various officers, departments, and agencies of local government. This function is known as the grand jury’s “watchdog” function. Each grand jury decides which officer, departments, and agencies it will investigate. These investigations are civil rather than criminal in nature. The grand jury investigates whether the entity is operating in a businesslike manner and providing public services effectively. The rationale behind this function is that the grand jury is an independent body from the entities it investigates. However, due to its authorization by the Superior Court, it still has access to officials, employees, records, and information that would not be available to the public. 

        Second, the grand jury issues criminal indictments on felony charges. This is the only traditional function of the California grand jury system. 

        Third, the grand jury investigates accusations of corruption or intentional misconduct while a public official is in office. If necessary, the grand jury will file a “accusation” against the official to remove him or her from office. This accusation process is considered “quasi-criminal.” 

        Regardless of the function, the California grand jury always performs fact-finding. The jury’s fact-finding results are aggregated in a report that includes recommendations. For the “watchdog” jury, this report contains recommendations for improving local government operations. For felonies, the grand jury also issues indictments. Any accusations are filed with the District Attorney, who takes any accusations to trial. When a report is generated about a local governmental entity, then that entity must answer the report in writing.  

Proposed Reform: Bill ABA 1972

        Current California law pays California grand jurors $15 a day for their service. The Superior Court of each county must assemble a list of selected grand jurors and publish it in the newspaper. Grand jurors are impaneled from this list. Jury commissioners are required to consider the geographic makeup of a jury pool. 

On February 10, 2022, a San Diego assemblyman introduced a bill which aims to promote diversity within California grand jury panels. If adopted, the bill would make it so jury commissions can consider not only the geographic makeup of a jury pool, but also the gender, age, race, and ethnicity makeup of a jury pool, too. Additionally, as opposed to a flat daily fee, the bill would require eight hours of the hourly prevailing county wage to be paid to the grand jurors every day.