As a truly independent body, each grand jury - by a supermajority vote - is free to choose what to investigate.  No one person or entity can direct a grand jury to conduct an investigation.  Subjects to investigate usually come to the grand jury by three basic avenues:

- a citizen complaint

- topics suggested through the committee process, or

- a referral from the immediate preceding grand jury.  

Two or more county grand juries may come together and conduct a joint investigation of a multi-county agency, however, each grand jury must publish its own final report.

While the grand jury is this independent, it does have the ethical and moral responsibility to use its resources wisely and conduct meaningful investigations, yielding reports that will make a positive difference in local government.