“Let There Be Light,” Dragging Special districts From the Shadows

Recommendations 10

• R1

  Page 22
  Written communications about unsatisfactory conditions when no crime is charged, with recommendations for improvements (reports);
• R2

  Page 22
  Written complaints charging a person with a crime (indictments); and
• R3

  Page 22
  Written complaints against a person whose conviction would result in removal from office rather than criminal penalties (accusations). a large portion of the public believes that an individual appearing before the grand jury, particularly a public official, suggests malfeasance or misfeasance. it should be clearly understood that it is the constitutional responsibility of the grand jury to review the conduct of county government each year, and this entails having public officials appear before the jury for the purpose of providing information to the jury about their departments or offices. although grand jurors are a part of the judicial system and are considered to be officers of the court, the grand jury is an entirely independent body. the presiding judge of the superior court, the district attorney, county counsel, and the state attorney General act as the grand jury’s advisors but cannot prevent the actions of the jury except for illegality. Because of the confidential nature of a grand jury’s work, much of it must be conducted in closed session. Members of a grand jury are sworn to secrecy, thus assuring all who appear that their complaints will be handled in an entirely confidential manner. no one may be present during the sessions of a grand jury except those specified by law (pen. code, § 939), the minutes of its meetings may not be inspected by anyone, and its records cannot be subpoenaed. penal code section 939 requires that prejudiced jurors may not be present during any part of proceedings from which they have once been formally excused, and no non-juror may be present during the expressing of the opinions of grand jurors, or the giving of their votes, on any criminal or civil matter before them. an officer having custody of a prisoner witness may be present during criminal sessions of the grand jury while the prisoner is testifying, but the officer shall be warned to ensure the secrecy of any grand jury proceeding that he or she has heard. 2011-2012 Orange County Grand Jury Page iii history of Grand Juries the conduct of criminal investigations and the return of indictments is the smaller part of a grand jury’s function in california. in some states, all persons accused of felonies must be indicted by a grand jury before being tried. this is also true of the federal courts. in this state, the vast majority of criminal cases are presented to the court, at a preliminary hearing, on a complaint issued by the district attorney. cases presented to the criminal grand jury by the district attorney may include, but are not limited to:
• R4

  Page 1
  Water and sewer districts should be consolidated into no more than six regional districts.
• R5

  Page 1
  Water and sewer districts should be removed from the tax rolls and operate solely on fees
• R6

  Page 1
  Special districts should adopt “board of director‟s practices” for all their reserves, restricted and unrestricted. All reserves should be classified in their 2013-2014 budgets according
• R7

  Page 1
  Excessive unrestricted reserves should be used to reduce existing debts. Future revenues
• R8

  Page 1
  Each special district should have an independent performance audit at least every three
• R9

  Page 1
  Each special district should contribute 1% of its unrestricted reserve fund to LAFCO to
• R10

  Page 1
  The Orange County Tax Collector should obtain all the specific allocations for the 1%