Category: Civil Grand Jury News

The Marin Independent Journal ran an article by Will Houston on July 6, 2023 which indicated that “SMART is running out of time to convince Marin and Sonoma voters to support renewing a critical sales tax to prevent the North Bay passenger rail service from financial collapse, according to a new grand jury report.” Read […]

Reporting for anewscafe.com on July 2, George Winship described the grand jury’s five investigations: City of Redding work crews discarding and storing debris in Enterprise Park; follow-up look at the Shasta County Coroner’s facilities, staff morale, and work practices; Clear Creek Community Services District accounting problems, and alleged lack of board oversight, improper management practices, […]

The Marin Independent Journal ran an article by Richard Halstead, in response to a recently released Marin County Grand Jury report. June 27, 2023 – “Marin County should make it easier for residents with urgent behavioral health needs to receive immediate help, according to a new civil grand jury report….The grand jury is recommending that […]

“Accessory dwelling units could help Marin County meet state mandates for creating new housing and officials should do more to promote their creation, a new civil grand jury report concludes. The grand jury notes that the state is requiring the county and its municipalities to allow 14,210 new dwellings by 2031,” states an article in […]

The Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury investigated the long-term outsourcing of planning and development services in Petaluma, the financial health of three municipal cemeteries in Sonoma, and the county’s new system of emergency ‘warming centers’ for those without either shelter or heat according to a June 29 report by Marc Albert in Northern California Public […]

June 27, 2023, Amelia Richardson, of the Petaluma Argus Courier, reports that the grand jury found the city of Petaluma has outsourced its planning department functions to a private firm (Metropolitan Group, also known as M-Group) for the past 14 years. The city failed to conduct formal performance reviews and did not determine the cost-effectiveness […]

June 25, 2023, Austin Murphy, of The Press Democrat reported that Sonoma County must do more to help its unhoused residents find warm places to stay during cold weather emergencies. The civil grand jury found that the county lacked a coherent policy for opening warming centers. Read the full account at: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/grand-jury-faults-sonoma-county-for-lack-of-warming-centers-for-homeless-pe/

The Davis Vanguard on June 15, 2023 reported on a recently released Yolo County Grand Jury report, resulting from a complaint the grand jury received. The issue addressed the administration and maintenance of street trees, education of homeowners with city trees on their property, issues within Chapters 15 and 37 of the Davis Municipal Code […]

A San Bernardino County Grand Jury report issued in December on the state of the county’s social services department is seeing some action.  In a May 25th story reported in the Los Angeles Times by staff writer by Salvador Hernandez a federal class-action lawsuit has been filed by A Better Childhood, a nonprofit group that uses civil litigation to push reform in […]

— City News Service reported that “More mental health clinicians and services are needed in San Diego County jails, according to a report released this week.” Read the full report on Patch San Diego here:  https://patch.com/california/san-diego/more-mental-health-staff-resources-needed-county-jails-grand-jury