The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County Grand Jury:
The 2021-22 Mendocino County Grand Jury was sworn in to service by Judge Jeanine Nadel last Friday, 9/17/21, at the Superior Court in Ukiah Ca. This year some members were also sworn in via Zoom. Members of the 2021-22 Mendocino County Grand Jury are:
Ukiah residents David Bennett, Darline Bergere, Jerry Cardoza, Phyllis Dockins, Diana Frediani, Betty Hook, Fred Nickel, Chris Philbrick, Tim Prince, and Carol Rosenberg; Petra Buchanan, Laytonville; Pam Hudson and Kathy Wylie, Albion; John King, Redwood Valley, Dan Lowden, Mathew Isaac, and Janice Winters, Willits; Barbara Ortega, Fort Bragg. Kathy Wylie was named Grand Jury Foreman.
The County Grand Jury operates under various California Penal and Government codes, and its oversight is generally limited to local government activities such as county departments and agencies, cities, special districts and school districts. Court operations and Federal or State governmental agencies are outside the scope of local Grand Jury review.
Each year the County Grand Jury must perform oversight on county correctional facilities as well as examine the operations of at least one county department. A series or reports is issued to the public and findings and recommendations are listed in the reports. Grand Jury report recommendations require departmental responses under PC §933.05.
Last year’s Grand Jury report and responses can be found at: https://www.mendocinocounty.org/government/grand-jury/2020-2021-reports
Investigation topics are generated internally via committee work, or via Citizen complaint. A complaint form is located here: https://www.mendocinocounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3158/637332528237200000
Each of California’s 58 counties swears a new Grand Jury in to service each year. The Mendocino County Grand Jury has existed over 100 years, and must operate under a strict code of confidentiality required by law. Under misdemeanor penalty, Grand Jury members are forbidden from divulging identities of complainants or those providing information to the grand jury, nor to name any sources in any public reports.
The 2021-22 Mendocino County Grand Jury will be busy training, considering new citizen complaints and reviewing the various departmental responses from last year’s Grand Jury reports in the coming weeks.