BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1292 (Stone) - Grand juries: reports
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|Version: March 28, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 6 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No (see Fiscal Impact) |
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|Hearing Date: April 25, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1292 would revise existing procedures related to the
issuance of a final grand jury report, as follows:
Requires a grand jury to hold at least one exit
interview with the subject of the investigation to discuss
the findings of the report to verify the accuracy of the
findings, as specified.
Authorizes a grand jury, with court approval, to provide
a draft of their findings to the subject of the report, in
order to receive initial comments on the draft, as
specified.
Grants the subject of an investigation the option to
provide responses to the findings in the report that will
be released and posted with the grand jury report, as
specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Grand jury activities : Significant increase in county costs
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(Local Funds), potentially state-reimbursable (General Fund*),
for additional grand jury expenses (including travel,
participation, report writing, meeting rooms, and support)
incurred as a result of the mandated exit interview, and
associated activities. To the extent additional duties imposed
in the bill potentially constitute a new state-reimbursable
mandate, costs would be subject to reimbursable by the state.
To the extent the activities are determined to be extensions
of the underlying suspended mandate, costs would be a local
responsibility until the suspension of the existing mandate is
lifted.
Local agency/school district participants : Potential minor
increase in annual local costs (Local Funds), potentially
state-reimbursable (General Fund*), to local agencies and
school districts for participation in mandated exit meetings
as subjects of the investigations.
* The Commission on State Mandates (CSM) issued its
determination in Grand Jury Proceedings (98-TC-27) that
specified activities and requirements pertaining to grand jury
proceedings constitute a reimbursable state-mandated program on
local governments. The statewide cost estimate adopted for these
activities projected annual costs to the state of $1.5 million.
Staff notes the reimbursable mandate has been suspended each
year for the past several years, and no funding has been
included in the annual Budget Act for these activities.
Background: Under existing law, a grand jury is required to be drawn and
summoned at least once per year in each county. (California
Constitution, Article I, Section 23, Penal Code (PC) § 905.)
Existing law sets forth the duties of the grand jury in each
county and requires the grand jury to submit to the presiding
judge of the superior court a final report of its findings and
recommendations pertaining to local government matters. (PC §§
914-933.6.)
Existing law authorizes a grand jury to request a subject person
or entity to come before the grand jury for the purpose of
reading and discussing the findings of the grand jury report
that relates to that person or entity in order to verify the
accuracy of the findings prior to their release. This bill would
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instead make it mandatory for the grand jury to hold an exit
interview with the subject of the investigation in order to
verify the accuracy of the findings. Additionally, this bill
would authorize a grand jury to provide draft findings to the
person, subject to court approval. Finally, this bill would
authorize the subject of an investigation to provide a
preliminary response to the findings in the report to be posted
with the release of the final report.
All expenses of grand juries are payable by the treasurer out of
county funds upon warrants drawn by the county auditor upon the
written order of the judge of the superior court of the county.
(PC § 931.)
Proposed Law:
This bill would revise existing procedures related to the
issuance of a final grand jury report, as follows:
Requires a grand jury to hold an exit interview with the
subject of their investigation to discuss the findings of
the report to verify the accuracy of the findings, as
specified.
Authorizes a grand jury, with court approval, to provide
a draft of their findings to the subject of the report, in
order to receive initial comments on the draft, as
specified.
Grants the subject of an investigation the option to
provide responses to the findings in the report that will
be released and posted with the grand jury report, as
specified.
Prior Legislation: AB 829 (Thomson) Chapter 443/1997
established the Grand Jury Training, Communication, and
Efficiency Act of 1997, which among its provisions, provided
that grand juries exercising their local government
investigatory duties must receive training and must remain
available for 45 days after the end of the jurors' terms to
clarify recommendations in their final reports. AB 829 also
required a grand jury to meet with the subject of an
investigation before it is concluded.
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Staff Comments: By increasing the duties of local grand juries
and the local agencies/school districts that are the subjects of
the investigations, the provisions of this bill create a
state-mandated local program.
The Commission on State Mandates (CSM) issued its determination
in Grand Jury Proceedings (98-TC-27) that specified activities
and requirements pertaining to grand jury proceedings constitute
a reimbursable state-mandated program on local governments.
Specifically, the CSM determined the activities eligible for
reimbursement included, but was not limited to, the following:
Grand jury meeting(s) with the subject(s) of the grand
jury's investigation(s) regarding the investigation. Grand
jury participation in the meeting(s) is reimbursable (PC §
933.05(e)).
Providing a suitable meeting room and providing support
to the grand jury as the superior court determines is
necessary (PC § 938.4).
A local agency or school district meeting with the grand
jury as the subject of an investigation is reimbursable (PC
§933.05(e)).
The statewide cost estimate adopted for grand jury activities
projected annual costs to the state of $1.5 million. Staff notes
the reimbursable mandate has been suspended each year for the
past several years, and no funding has been included in the
annual Budget Act for these activities.
Costs to each county resulting from the activities required in
this bill would be dependent on the number of grand jurors in
each county, the number of exit interviews conducted, and the
duration of the interviews, including time to revise findings
and the draft report, as necessary.
To the extent the additional grand jury activities are
determined by the CSM to constitute a new state-mandated local
program or higher level of service, counties could potentially
claim reimbursement for these costs. Alternatively, to the
extent the CSM determines the activities are extensions of the
existing suspended mandate, for years in which the reimbursable
mandate remains suspended in the Budget Act, any increased costs
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associated with this measure would remain non-reimbursable until
the suspension on the mandate is lifted.
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