Frequently Asked Questions for Prospective Civil Grand Jurors
Q: What is the typical weekly commitment while serving on the Civil Grand Jury?
A: Your time commitment will vary, depending upon both the time of the Grand Jury year (July 1- June 30), as well as the number of committees you choose to serve on. For the first 2-3 months of your term, the time commitment should average around 10 hours per week. During this period, you will be forming your investigative and operational committees, learning about local government structures and responsibilities, as well as coming up to speed on the Google suite of apps used by the Grand Jury.
By October, you will be spending a significant amount of time with the prospective subjects which your committee(s) may investigate. This includes interviewing people, performing online research, and the writing of documents used by your committee and the Plenary. Weekly time commitments may reach 15 hours per week by the end of the year.
As the new year begins, you will be finalizing interviews and beginning the drafting of your report. Once your report reaches a more polished state, your committee will begin an iterative review and editing process with the Editorial committee. Your commitment will peak between February and May, reaching 20-25 hours per week, again depending upon the number of committees on which you choose to serve
Q: How many Civil Grand Jurors are there?
A: The Civil Grand Jury is comprised of 19 seated Grand Jurors and 11 alternate Grand Jurors. During a Grand Jury year, seated Grand Jurors may drop out for several reasons. When this happens, an alternate will take their place. The seated Grand Jurors are chosen in late Spring each year for the upcoming July -June term. Depending upon the number of holdovers, current, seated Grand Jurors who have been approved to serve an additional term, up to 19 seated Grand Jurors are chosen. Next, 11 alternates are chosen. The order of the alternates chosen determines when that alternate would take the place of a seated Grand Juror who leaves.
Q: Are there typical areas of local government which the Grand Jury investigates?
A: While there are no state or local requirements to investigate a specific topic in any given year, each Grand Jury typically forms committees that investigate areas such as:
- Education
- Environment and Climate Change
- Health and Human Services
- Housing
- Law and Justice
- Special Districts
- Technology
- Town, City and County Governments
Q: Is there more than one type of Grand Jury Committee on which a juror may serve?
A: Yes. In addition to its Investigative Committees, the Grand Jury will form committees that support the Grand Jury’s operations. These include:
- Complaints (from the public, asking the Grand Jury to investigate a specific topic
- Continuity*
- Editorial
- Social
- Technology*
- Treasury
- * These committees may also perform investigative reports
Q: How many committees will I be required to serve on?
A: The number will vary from Grand Jury Year, but typically, you should expect to serve on one investigative, and one administrative committee.
Q: How computer savvy do I need to be to serve on the Grand Jury?
A: Familiarity and experience with cloud-based (online), integrated platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or Zoho One, is a plus, and will enable you to come more quickly up-to-speed with the Google apps which the Grand Jury uses. That said, significant time will be spent at the outset of the term, teaching the jurors how to most efficiently use Google apps for email, file archiving and name, document writing, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Q: I still am employed. Does the Grand Jury conduct any of its meetings during the evening?
A: Each Grand Jury will decide at the outset of the Grand Jury year, when it will hold its weekly meeting with the entire Grand Jury (the Plenary). Similarly, each committee will agree upon when they meet each week. Historically, the Plenary meeting is held during the daytime.
Q: Where online can I go to find out additional information about Civil Grand Jury Investigations, Reports and Procedures?
A: Please visit the California Civil Grand Jurors’ Association webpage of FAQs – https://cgja.org/faqs/