Volunteer to serve on county civil grand jury
Deadline for applications is Friday, April 15
– The community is invited to make a difference by becoming a member of the San Luis Obispo County Civil Grand Jury. Recruitment is now open for county citizens to apply to become a member of the jury. This is an opportunity to collaborate with other members of the community who share a passion for civic duty.
The civil grand jury has the authority to investigate city and county government agencies, school districts, special districts such as fire protection, and water. Additionally, the grand jury will investigate public health and safety, which includes an inspection of local jails and CMC. The grand jury is dedicated to ensuring that local government is effective, efficient, transparent, and accountable.
The grand jury conducts investigations and research, determines its findings and recommendations, and publishes reports. They visit various departments within the county, cities, and community service districts to interview government officials, workers, and the people they serve. Ideas for investigations generally come by way of three avenues: citizen complaints, matters raised by the members of the grand jury, and referrals from the preceding grand jury.
In the past few years, the grand jury addressed many important topics: affordable housing, fire risk management, public safety at the Oceano Dunes, school district financial crisis, and behavioral health services.
What does it take to be on the grand jury? It is beneficial for volunteers to be in good health, have good writing skills, be computer literate, be open-minded, able to work effectively with others, and respect diverse points of view. Jurors must be a US citizen, at least 18 years old, and be a resident of the county for at least one year, have sufficient knowledge of the English language to conduct interviews and write reports, be able to devote approximately 20 hours a week to the grand jury for a one-year term – July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
To obtain an application go to the grand jury website: https://www.slo.courts.ca.gov/gi/jury-grandjury.htm or call Jury Services at (805) 706-3611. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 15, 2022.
Typically, there are over 500 reports published each year by California’s 58 county grand juries. Many are available for viewing on the California Grand Jurors’Association website at https://cgja.org/search-grand-jury-report-topics or read local reports by clicking on the report link at https://www.slo.courts.ca.gov/general-information/jury-service/grand-jury.
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