In an attempt to identify some well-written reports to serve as examples for civil grand juries and for the Report Writing Workshops, CGJA trainers randomly sampled recent civil grand jury reports from throughout the state and selected the set included here. Their inclusion here is, therefore, illustrative rather than comprehensive. The intent is to respond to requests to see examples of reports that are well written, based on CGJA training criteria.
You can access copies of these reports by clicking on the links in the list below. The original reports are contained within the respective county website which can be found by clicking here to access any of the county’s grand jury website and find their reports. In some cases the report listed here is only contained in a consolidated final report on the county website.
Marin – 2022-2023, Justice Delayed is Justice Denied – Marin DA’s Office in Crisis
Napa – 2022-2023, Mental Health Crisis Services in Napa County
Sonoma – 2022-2023, City of Sonoma Cemeteries
Stanislaus – 2022-2023, City of Oakdale, Police Department Patrol Officers Out of Compliance with Mandated Training
Tehama – 2022, Bringing Tehama LAFCo Up To Date
Nevada – 2021-2022, Nevada Irrigation District: Troubled Waters
Orange – 2021-2022, Orange County Power Authority: Come Clean
San Francisco – 2021-2022, Shovel Ready: Best Practices and Collaboration to Improve San Francisco’s Capital Construction Project
Siskiyou – 2021-2022, Deadwood Conservation Camp
Yolo – 2021-2022, A Snapshot in Time: An Overview of the Yolo County Jail
Contra Costa – 2020-2021, Cyber Attack Preparedness in Contra Costa County
Orange – 2019-2020, Electric Vehicles Are Here – Is Orange County All Charged Up?
Plumas – 2019-2020, Plumas County and Unfunded Pension Liability: Deer in the Headlight?
Sonoma – 2019-2020, Homeless Youth: Sonoma County in Dubious First Place
Marin – 2018-2019, The Status of Career Technical Education
Monterey – 2018-2019, Monterey County’s Unenforced Rooster Keeping Ordinance
Napa – 2018-2019, Enforcing Short-term Vacation Rental Codes in the Napa Valley
Nevada – 2018-2019, Request for Proposal and Procurement Practices
Sacramento – 2018-2019, page 41, Levee Maintenance
Sonoma – 2018-2019, – Managing Public Properties in Sonoma County
Stanislaus – 2018-2019, Is Measure L Measuring Up?
Orange – 2017-2018, Orange County Landfills: Talking Trash
San Francisco – 2017-2018, Crisis Intervention: Bridging Police and Public Health
Tuolumne – 2018, Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority
Compliance Reports
Contra Costa – 2020-2021, Compliance and Continuity Report
Plumas – 2019-2020, Compliance and Continuity Report, 2018-2019 Grand Jury Report
Marin – 2017-2018, The Future of Juvenile Detention in Marin, A Follow-up Report
In addition, CGJA’s annual Excellence in Reporting Award recognizes the best report of those nominated each year by chapters or associations (or members in counties where there is no chapter or association). These award-winning reports can be found here. The criteria for the awards include the editorial merit, the effectiveness of the report, and its impact on the community. These reports do not necessarily reflect the content, format, and style recommended by CGJA, but they are good reports that have been shown to make a demonstrable difference in local government. These award-winning reports can be found here.