Want to learn more about the community? Sacramento grand jury is looking for volunteers
Sacramento County’s grand jury is gearing up for a new session, opening the door to volunteers for the 2020-2021 term.
The Sacramento Superior Court is recruiting to fill the 19-member, 11-alternate panel charged with investigating and reporting on the workings of local government.
The grand jury year begins July 1. Applications are being accepted through Jan. 26 and are available at the grand jury’s website.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Hersher is the panel’s 2020-2021 adviser.
“We look to people with life experience, who can work compatibly with people and can bring to bear critical thinking to very important topics,” Hersher said. “They’re charged with looking at the facts in a very unbiased way and presenting that for people.”
Grand jurors “are imbued with great power to go where they need to go to ensure government is working for the benefit of the public,” Hersher continued. “It’s a critically important job.”
Qualified applicants 18 and older will attend a February group meeting with Superior Court judges to go over what it means to be a grand juror. In March and April, judges will receive a list for nomination and come up with 30 or more candidates who are qualified to serve on the panel. Judges will also nominate candidates.
Grand jurors are selected by random drawing at the Sacramento County Courthouse in June. Jurors are then notified by certified letter and are sworn in at the end of June, when they begin their work.
The court is recruiting through January “in an attempt to reach out to as diverse a community as we can,” Hersher said. The judge’s goal is to see upwards of 150 candidates.
Hersher wants community members to “begin to take the opportunity to become actively involved in oversight. ... We need to get the word out that this is an independent body that convenes, meets and investigates. It’s vastly important that we get as diverse a panel as possible, that reflects the diversity of our community. I see this as a great honor. It’s a lot of work.”
Grand jurors have a number of purposes, Hersher explained.
They act as a civil grand jury that investigates and hears whistleblowing and other complaints. Members are divided into committees including those for education, law enforcement and government.
They also function as a criminal investigation grand jury that is convened by the state’s attorney general or the county District Attorney’s Office. As that body, jurors can interview witnesses and become an investigative grand jury.
Sacramento County’s grand jury is one of four in California that can investigate matters statewide, Hersher said.
The grand jury is also a criminal indictment body able to receive and review evidence and file criminal information – the initial list of charges brought in criminal court proceedings.
Grand jurors are also charged with reviewing the county’s correctional facilities, including Sacramento County Main Jail in downtown Sacramento and Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove, along with Folsom State Prison.
The 2018-2019 grand jury also tackled a number of the community’s top issues, including the region’s response to homelessness and illegal camping in the American River Parkway, housing, recreational marijuana, river levee maintenance and the performance of the area’s community colleges.
“It’s the best hands-on civics lesson the public will ever have,” said grand jury coordinator Becky Castaneda.
Jurors work 25-35 hours per week; must have knowledge of how government works and be able to analyze information, draft reports; and participate in investigations.
Panelists must be 18 years or older, a U.S. citizen for one year before selection and be a Sacramento County resident.
Applicants can also send a letter of interest including a resume to Sacramento County Grand Jury, 920 Ninth St., Room 611, Sacramento, CA 95814
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 1:52 PM.
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