What We Do
We provide the general public with information and educational materials and activities on the California Civil Grand Jury system that will help increase public awareness of the valuable role the civil grand jury plays in our democratic system of government.
We provide comprehensive training on all subjects relative to empaneled civil grand juries available to all 58 counties within California including civil grand jury training as well as specific workshops on key topics relevant to civil grand jury service.
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Civil Grand Jury Resources
Here you can find sample documents, templates, examples of well-written reports, links to local government resources,
and FAQs.
Our Annual Conference
Every year in the fall, CGJA holds an Annual Conference and Membership Meeting to provide an opportunity for members and civil grand jurors to meet and discuss experiences and hear from speakers and panels on relevant topics of interest.
Chapter Resources
Includes chapter resource documents, suggested activities for chapters, guidance for forming a chapter along with templates.
Get Involved
Join CGJA as an active member, volunteer for CGJA, become a civil grand juror, join a chapter, or support us through a tax deductible donation.
Grand Jurors' Journal
This bimonthly journal is a major source of information about the civil grand jury system and recent updates on CGJA activities of interest to our members.
CGJA and California's Civil Grand Jury System
Learn about CGJA and details about California’s unique system of civil grand juries.
Our Awards
Annual awards recognizing civil grand jury reporting and media coverage along with the Angelo Rolando Service Award.
We can help you become
an effective civil grand juror
CGJA conducts training seminars for civil grand jurors and alternates on their various civil functions. These seminars include twelve full hours of presentations and over 300 pages of training materials. Experienced and highly qualified trainers who have served as civil grand jurors or grand jury legal advisors present these programs locally, throughout the state as “onsite” seminars or via Zoom if Covid-19 restrictions exist.
We also conduct Foreperson and Pro Tem Workshops, Legal Advisors’ Workshops, and Report Writing Workshops.
Stay Updated with Civil Grand Jury News
Fresno County Grand Jury Investigation into Fresno Unified Payment to Former Employee
www.msn.com/en-us/money/human-resources/grand-jury-investigation-into-fresno-unified-focused-on-p...
Fresno Unified was recently the subject of a grand jury probe, and while the query prompted some recommendations, it also shed light on some controversy surrounding district payouts.
In a report released earlier this month, the Fresno County Civil Grand Jury said it was prompted to investigate a complaint regarding the school district’s payments to “a non-certified, non-union employee(s) upon their resignation.”
Grand jury investigation into Fresno Unified focused on payment to former employee
www.msn.com
The district followed policy, the grand jury said, but outdated job descriptions and inconsistent evaluations were issues.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sacramento Grand Jury Rips SACRT for Leaving Disabled Riders in the Dark
Grand Jury Rips SacRT For Leaving Disabled Riders In The Dark
hoodline.com
Grand jury: SacRT didn't adequately notify disabled riders about app change; SacRT pushes back.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Orange County Grand Jury Report Targets O.C. Elected Officials
www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2026-06-20/orange-county-grand-jury-support...
In the wake of the June primary, an Orange County grand jury report proposed charter reforms that would make it easier for elected county officials to be removed from office for misconduct.
Both O.C. Assessor Claude Parrish and Treasurer-Tax Collector Shari Freidenrich handily won reelection earlier this month, earning more than 70% of the vote in their respective races.
But Parrish and Freidenrich have also been subject of H.R. investigations in recent years with at least some county supervisors unaware of the findings until reporters requested the files.
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The pair of county officials are the focus of the “Unbalanced Authority: Oversight and Accountability in Orange County Government” grand jury report released on June 12.
Where it concerns elected officials like Parrish and Freidenrich, the report claims that the Orange County Board of Supervisors largely have their hands tied by the state’s constitution and state law.
Still, the grand jury suggests that county charter reforms could give supervisors the power to remove troublesome officials by a supermajority vote on the five-member board.
The report also recommends consolidating the assessor and clerk-recorder’s office to improve oversight while making the treasurer an appointed position in the future.
Parrish faced H.R. investigation
Jurors interviewed county staffers and requested public records and claim issues persist at the assessor’s office after an H.R. investigation in 2023 sustained allegations that Parrish violated gender discrimination and retaliation policies while harassing a subordinate employee with a disability.
“Testimony obtained during the investigation consistently characterized the office as lacking in stable executive leadership,” the report claimed. “Witness accounts describing inconsistent decision-making and repeated lapses in judgment raise doubts about the Assessor’s ability to manage the operational and administrative responsibilities of a complex public agency.”
Jurors described Parrish’s frequent absence from the office as an “open secret,” in the report and blamed his refusal to modernize operations for lagging behind on technological updates.
Parrish rejects both reforms where it concerns his seat and office.
“With respect to the removal of an elected county official, the power is vested in the voters as part of a recall,” he said. “The assessor and clerk-recorder office duties are also significantly different. Combining these offices will not provide any cost savings or efficiency.”
The assessor and treasurer-tax collector are described in the report as the “two most financially significant elected offices in the county.” The assessor’s office spans 250 employees and manages the evaluation of $850 billion in taxable properties.
The treasurer oversees tax collection and counts a staff of 70 employees. Freidenrich’s office managed a $17-billion investment pool until late 2024 when supervisors stripped her of that authority.
Mark Geragos, an attorney for Freidenrich, criticized the grand jury report.
“The voters overwhelmingly rejected the notion that Freidenrich should be removed,” he said. “At the same time, Orange County is the only county in the state to have moved the financial fiduciary duties from the treasurer. We’ve seen this movie before when Orange County last went bankrupt.”
‘Persistant fear’ in Freidenrich’s office
An internal investigation in 2022 substantiated allegations that Freidenrich threw office keys at another employee out of anger, an incident it noted as a likely violation of workplace violence policies.
The grand jury report cited a recent Orange County Employees Assn. survey of treasurer-tax collector staff along with its own independent interviews to show a culture of “persistent fear, distrust and low morale” permeates the department after the investigation.
In the lead up to the June primary, Freidenrich tried to fire assistant treasurer-tax collector Dana Schultz, who filed paperwork to run against her. Freidenrich later cruised to an easy victory over Schultz at the ballot.
Jodi Balma, a political science professor at Fullerton College, agreed with the report that most county official races are powered by name recognition and incumbency.
“The electorate is so ill-informed, uninformed and misinformed that I wished the report had come out before the election,” she said. “I would have loved for it to have been part of the public discourse. If the report had come out before filing deadline — that would have been ideal.”
Should the assessor and treasurer positions continue to be elected without the oversight reforms proposed, Balma offered another idea.
“State law moved the sheriff and district attorney’s terms to presidential election cycles, but left all the other county offices behind,” she said. “At the very least, Orange County and all other counties need to move the rest of their offices to the same election cycle as the sheriff and district attorney races.”
County Supervisor Don Wagner pushed back on the grand jury’s suggestion that a supermajority of the board could oust an elected official.
“I’m not sure you want to give that sort of additional power to supervisors,” Wagner said. “If it’s misconduct that, God forbids, rises to the level of ex-supervisor Andrew Do, law enforcement can step in. If it’s something short of that, there’s always a recall.”
O.C. grand jury supports reforms to oust elected county officials for misconduct
www.latimes.com
A new Orange County grand jury report recommends that county supervisors be given the power to remove elected county officials for misconduct with a specific focus on the assessor and treasurer-tax co...0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Humbolt County CGJA Grand Jury Tsunami Alert Report – 2026 July
www.madriverunion.com/articles/grand-jury-analysis-of-2024-tsunami-alert-plus-recommendations/
Grand Jury analysis of 2024 tsunami alert, plus recommendations
Mad River Union
June 18, 2026
“We gotta head for higher ground, we can’t come back until the water goes down”
– Johnny Cash
Imagine you are walking along the ocean shoreline in our county, and the ground starts to shake violently. Several minutes later, your phone receives an alert telling you a tsunami is likely.
What do you do? Are you in a tsunami zone?
Shortly after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the Humboldt County coastline on Dec. 5, 2024, an emergency tsunami warning was sent to 5 million cell phones along the California coast.
Alerts went to phones outside the tsunami zone, including inland communities such as Redding.
Maps, generated by the National Weather Service and issued during the tsunami warning, implied that the tsunami zone extended to a 2,000-foot elevation.
Confusion resulting from this map led to a mass exodus from areas that were not at risk. Traffic on Highway 101 through Eureka came to a standstill. Emergency vehicles could not get through.
Humboldt residents are very aware of their vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunamis, but when an earthquake occurs and is sufficiently violent to create tsunami waves, alerting those who are likely to be affected and providing accurate information to allow a safe reaction remains problematic.
The Civil Grand Jury Report, The Next Wave in Tsunami Warnings in Humboldt, was published on the Humboldt County website Civil Grand Jury | Humboldt County, CA – Official Website, and addresses these concerns.
humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/153668/The-Next-Wave-in-Tsunami-Warnings-in-Humboldt
Among the Grand Jury’s findings
• Humboldt County tsunami sirens are costly, lack funding, and nearly all are non-functional, leaving large tsunami zone areas without siren coverage.
• Alaska-based federally operated tsunami alert systems have historically been targeted to large areas of the west coast, resulting in local false alarms, confusion and needless panic.
• “Blue line” pavement markings, used in Oregon and Washington, that indicate “Leaving Tsunami Zone” have proven effective and economical in drawing public awareness to where safety lies in the event of a tsunami
• Current Humboldt Alert wireless messages are targeted to residential addresses rather than the physical address (geolocation) location of the person’s phone. This can result in people missing an alert during a tsunami event.
Among the Grand Jury’s recommendations
• Humboldt County should publicize that Humboldt County’s outdated siren system will not be replaced or expanded.
• The City of Eureka City should apply for eligible grant funding for “blue line” pavement markings to be installed.
• Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services should investigate funding to install a locally-controlled wireless alert system.
• Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services should implement geolocation on its current wireless alert system and, if the system does not have that ability, research other systems which provide geolocation capability.
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Petaluma Rejects Sonoma County Grand Jury Animal Services Findings
patch.com/california/petaluma/petaluma-rejects-grand-jury-animal-services-findings
Patch
By Angela Woodall,
July 15, 2026
Petaluma Rejects Grand Jury Animal Services Findings
patch.com
City leaders disputed every finding while promising new oversight, reporting, and regional animal services improvements.1 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ventura County Grand Jury Report 2026 - Grand Jury calls out inaction on evergrowing fire risk
www.toacorn.com
A “fast-growing, fast-burning, water stealing, high ember-casting threat” is invading Ventura County and little is being done to stop it, according to a sca0 CommentsComment on Facebook
CGJA Journal
This bimonthly journal is a major source of information about the civil grand jury system and recent updates on CGJA activities of interest to our members.
The Gift of Your Time
is Priceless
CGJA is an all-volunteer membership organization. We succeed mainly because our members volunteer to serve on our committees and/or train civil grand jurors. Serving on committees almost never requires travel as we communicate via email and computer video. Our trainers do travel to venues throughout the state and we reimburse them for lodging, mileage, and a modest per diem for other expenses.
