FAQs

Grand jurors, working as a team, may investigate and respond to citizen complaints about governmental entities within the County of San Diego, conduct studies of government operations, prepare reports of its investigations and serve as a watchdog to assure compliance with established law and regulations governing county agencies. The Grand Jury must complete audits of county governments, inspect the detention facilities within the county and issue a final report.

The San Diego County Civil Grand Jury has jurisdiction over all local governmental entities within the County of San Diego.

No. The Grand Jury has jurisdiction over local government agencies and officials within San Diego County.

No. The only requirements are that you be a citizen of the United States, be a resident of San Diego County for at least one year prior to selection, be 18 years or older, possess ordinary intelligence, sound judgement, be of good character and possess sufficient knowledge of the English language to communicate both orally and in writing.

The grand jury has a suite of offices in the Hall of Justice. The suite contains several quiet rooms, with telephones, several meeting rooms and a lunchroom with a small kitchen. Each grand juror has a workstation in the grand jury chambers with a computer which is connected to a printer, a telephone and drawer space. The foreperson and the jury coordinator are provided separate offices.

Under normal circumstances, the San Diego County Civil Grand Jury will not be involved in criminal indictments.

Each grand jury operates under the provisions of a procedures manual and may adopt Robert’s Rules of Order.

Yes. The grand jury suite is ADA compliant.

Not really. The Grand Jury may wish to talk to you about your complaint, so your name and telephone number are important. You may request that your name not be used during the investigation of your complaint.

A criminal grand jury hears evidence of a criminal activity and returns an indictment if the evidence so dictates. A civil grand jury may investigate complaints against government entities and issues reports based on those investigations. A civil grand jury also performs a watchdog function of government activities to insure they are operating in the most efficient manner.

There are 19 persons on the grand jury, eighteen members and a foreperson.

Yes. $25 per day plus 40.5 cents per mile round trip from your residence to the grand jury suite and free parking at the Hall of Justice.

The average work week is 4 days, 6 to 8 hours per day.

Fill out an application. The application is available on this web site at all times and at the Office of the Jury Commissioner from December 1 through the second week of January. Return the application to the Office of the Jury Commissioner. The applications are reviewed by the Jury Commissioner’s Office and those that qualify are made available to the Superior Court judges who may each nominate up to three people for grand jury service. An applicant may also contact any Superior Court judge and request a nomination. From the nominated applicants, a pool of 30 is drawn by lot. Then, the names of the 19 who will compose the grand jury are drawn at random and the remaining 11 are drawn to create the list of alternates.