The Sacramento County Grand Jury investigates local public agencies and officials to ensure they act effectively and fairly.
Each year, 19 county residents volunteer on the independent body and release reports on issues such as homeless service coordination and special education programs.
Members have the power to investigate, gather evidence and publish reports on local government waste, abuse, inefficiencies and wrongdoing, said Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steven Gevercer, who serves as the advisor to the grand jury. State law requires them to share findings and recommendations for agencies and officials to improve.
“We do see that these grand jury reports are a catalyst for change,” Gevercer said. “And it’s certainly a way for the public to understand these public agencies and to make them accountable for what they’re doing.”
The grand jury can investigate city and county governments, school districts and special districts. Sacramento County has more than 100 special districts, including community services, fire, reclamation and water districts.
Here are answers to questions about the grand jury, including how members are selected, what their investigations involve, and the process for releasing reports.
How are grand jurors recruited and selected?
The court typically accepts applications for the grand jury until the end of December each year. Recruitment efforts include public service advertisements, local media appearances and articles in neighborhood magazines, Gevercer said. Court staff also send out 5,000 invitations to the general jury pool and talk to organizations such as Rotary International clubs.
To qualify, applicants must be 18 or older, a Sacramento County resident and be able to spend 20 to 30 volunteer hours per week on duties for the body. Candidates who pass the Department of Justice background checks and interviews move on to a random drawing, Gevercer said.
The first 19 people selected from the random drawing each June begin serving a one-year term as a grand juror in July, he said. The court designates the next 11 people as alternates.
But current grand jurors can request to be a holdover and serve another term, Gevercer said. The jury doesn’t limit how many times people can serve on the grand jury, he added.
For the 2024-25 grand jury, foreperson Beth TenPas said three of them are holdovers, including herself.
What does the grand jury foreperson do?
The grand jury foreperson leads the body. A judge appoints one of the jurors as foreperson after interviews, TenPas said. The foreperson then selects other officers, including a pro tem, secretary and sergeant of arms, as well as chairs for the grand jury’s committees.
The Sacramento County Grand Jury organizes its members into five investigative and three support committees, TenPas said. Each juror serves on one support and two investigative committees to share the workload and cover different subjects.
Technology, editing and community engagement are the support committees. The community engagement group’s responsibilities involve recruiting and training new jurors and documenting what information to pass along.
Investigative committees include criminal justice, health and human services and education. TenPas said she asks jurors for their input on topics they want to investigate, but also looks into potential conflicts of interest that may be tied to their employment history. From there, TenPas said as the foreperson, she assigns people to committees based on who might work well together.
How does the grand jury decide what to investigate?
The grand jury can base investigations off of complaints from the general public or come up with ideas on its own. Jurors discuss both types of pitches in meetings before determining what to investigate each year, TenPas said. Committees can’t initiate investigations on their own without going to the full group.
Self-generated subjects can come from news reports or issues jurors ran into through their daily life or careers, she said.
“We want to make sure that we’re looking at topics that are going to be of interest to the residents of the county and also can benefit as many residents as we can,” TenPas said.
When filing a complaint, Gevercer recommends providing as much specific information as possible. Listing many witnesses or people who should be interviewed also helps. The grand jury keeps people who file complaints anonymous, Gevercer added.
Grand juries can also decide to follow up on investigations by previous grand juries, Gevercer said. As the advisor, Gevercer said he also makes sure the grand jury stays within its jurisdiction. It couldn’t decide to investigate a state official, for example.
What do grand jury investigations involve?
Jurors generally begin by interviewing the leader of the department or board at the center of the investigation, TenPas said. The starting point ensures they understand how the agency works and helps them confirm whether a problem exists.
Then they interview staff working in the department and ask for recommendations of who else to speak with next. They might also interview customers of an agency and experts from related state associations to get other perspectives.
Jurors don’t tell interviewees what topic they are looking into before meeting with them, TenPas said. They also don’t identify the participants by name or title in the reports.
“We won’t say what they are so that the people we interview can feel free to talk to us and really tell us what they know,” TenPas said. “They may have the best recommendations for us as to how to fix the problems because they’re in it every day.”
Other tasks include researching public sources, such as city ordinances, to give background.
What’s the process for releasing reports?
The grand jury must release all their reports before the one-year term concludes at the end of each June. It typically publishes them as they are completed and approved in May and June. But no rules prevent the grand jury from releasing reports earlier in the year, TenPas said.
A supermajority of the grand jury, at least 12 of 19 jurors, must approve the report. Members look for accuracy, readability and objectivity, TenPas said.
The county counsel and advising judge also review all the reports. But the Sacramento County Superior Court doesn’t tell the grand jury what to write or what to conclude, Gevercer said.
How must public agencies and officials respond to reports?
The grand jury requires public agencies or officials to send written responses to reports in 60 to 90 days. Recommendations in the reports aren’t binding, but Gevercer said they shed light on issues taxpayers should know about.
If a subsequent grand jury finds the responses inadequate or untruthful, it could decide to do another investigation, Gevercer added.
Responses to reports are posted on the grand jury’s website.
