California’s civil grand jury system is a vital part of the judicial branch of the government, though it functions separately from the courts. Each county’s civil grand jury operates as an independent investigative and reporting body. The grand jury is appointed with the purpose of researching and choosing areas each year to investigate within our local government. Following their private investigations, the grand jury is tasked with providing a public in-depth analysis of their findings, and any recommendations they have.

The goal of the civil grand jury is to improve the operations of local government through investigations and the issuance of written findings and recommendations based on those investigations. Each county’s grand jury has wide latitude in deciding which topics and entities to review and investigate so that each county may consider their local priorities. Our grand jury reviews the practices and operations of our local agencies, to ensure transparency, accountability, effective use of resources, success in delivery of goals, and alignment with government purposes.

Our county grand juries are chosen once per year. Our Santa Cruz County court will soon begin our process of reviewing applications, interviewing select candidates, and then appointing our 2025-2026 civil grand jury. Serving on our civil grand jury is a tremendous opportunity to engage with other committed members of our community, to investigate focused issues in our county, and to contribute to the betterment of our county government agencies.

In recent years, our grand juries have conducted dozens of investigations into incredibly important areas. In the 2023-2024 term, our civil grand jury investigated the following agencies or topics: county local roads; county jail health care and reentry support; county Behavioral Health Division; county Child Protective Services; CZU fire victims four years later; inclusionary housing in the city of Santa Cruz; county personnel department; and preventing rape and domestic violence in the city of Santa Cruz. In the 2022-2023 term, our civil grand jury reviewed: cyber threat preparedness; the future of our local jails; housing our essential workers; the county’s behavioral health crisis; surveillance in the county; county contracts with nonprofit organizations; code compliance; and county response to prior grand jury recommendations.

We have seen direct results from the exceptional reports and recommendations prepared by past grand juries, and our past grand jurors have seen how each of their individual voices contributed to changes and improvement to our local government.

Our 2025-2026 grand jury will begin July 1, 2025. Our county’s grand jury is comprised of 19 volunteer members and 11 alternates who serve for a one-year term, with an expected time contribution of approximately 20 hours each week, though this varies depending on each investigation and report. Our most recent grand juries have been meeting and working together in person, as well as remotely, and have successfully used video conferencing and document-sharing programs; we expect this combination of in-person and remote work to continue.

We are looking for collaborative, committed, open-minded and thoughtful residents of our county who enjoy contributing to the improvement of our local community. Please consider applying. As the supervising judge of Santa Cruz County’s civil grand jury, I thank you for considering this devotion to a year of public service. Your insight and experience are vital to the success of our local government. Please also encourage others to apply, including your local friends, family and other community members who you believe could add valuable contributions.

For information, consider attending an informational meeting at one of the county public libraries: April 1 at 10 a.m., at the Capitola Branch (2005 Wharf Road, Capitola); April 16 at 10:30 a.m. at the Felton Branch (6121 Gushee Street, Felton); April 16 at 3:30 p.m. at the Scotts Valley Branch (251 Kings Valley Road, Scotts Valley); or April 23 at the city of Watsonville Public Library (275 Main Street, Suite 100, Watsonville). You can also email jury.information@santacruzcourt.org with questions, or go to santacruzcountyca.gov/Departments/GrandJury.aspx for additional information and to review past reports.