What is the Civil Grand Jury and what does it do?

Press release from The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury:

The 2025-2026 Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury is issuing reports.  Have you ever wondered what the Civil Grand Jury is, what they do, and how they do it?

The Civil Grand Jury ‘s job is to detect and correct of flaws in government.

The Civil Grand Jury is part of the judicial branch of government and is made up of nineteen citizens who serve for 12 months.  Each California county has a grand jury.  Civil Grand Juries do not investigate criminal offences.  That is the responsibility of Criminal Grand Juries. 

Responsibilities

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury has jurisdiction over Humboldt County districts, cities, agencies, and departments and examines all aspects of county and city government to ensure honest, efficient government in the best interests of the people.

The Jury receives and investigates complaints from individuals concerning the actions and performances of county or public officials.

Not all investigations come from complaints.  The Jury can begin investigations based on community information such as newspapers. 

Confidentiality

All the Grand Jury’s work is confidential.  The Jury cannot disclose if they have received or have not received a complaint.  They cannot discuss complaints they may be working on. 

If the Jury issues a report, it will contain the relevant information the Jury can disclose.  The Jury cannot disclose any additional information they have gathered in their investigation.  The identities of people interviewed when conducting research are confidential.  Their names and identifying information are never disclosed. 

How the Civil Grand Jury Processes Complaints

The Grand Jury requests that all complaints be submitted on the complaint form.  There are questions on that form that need to be answered to help the Jury evaluate the complaint and determine if they will investigate.  The complaint form is available at

https://humboldtgov.org/518/Civil-Grand-Jury-Forms

When a complaint is received the Jury first determines if it has jurisdiction over the subject of the complaint.

If the Jury does not have jurisdiction – e.g. the complaint is against a state agency such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife – the complainant is notified so they can pursue their complaint in the appropriate place.

If the complaint is received near the end of the term, or there are other extenuating circumstances, the Jury can decide to send the complaint to the next Jury for their consideration.

If the Jury keeps the complaint, the information is evaluated.  Does what occurred impact or have the potential to impact many people?  Is it something that is recurring or does it have the potential to recur?

The Jury can interview the complainant and/or request documents to gather more information.  After evaluating the information, the Jury will vote to begin an investigation or not.  If the Jury votes not to investigate, the complainant is not notified.

During an investigation the Jury gathers information from research and interviews and then identifies facts.  Facts must be confirmed by two or more sources.

As information is gathered the Jury looks for findings.  A finding is a fact with consequences.  From findings the Jury develops recommendations.  If the Jury cannot identify findings, they will not write a report.  Positive as well as negative findings are included in the report.

Reports are reviewed by County Counsel before being sent to the Presiding Judge for review and approval.  The Jury can issue reports throughout the year and must issue all reports by June 30.

If you are interested in joining the Civil Grand Jury, an application can be found at – Civil Grand Jury | Humboldt County, CA – Official Website