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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05191987 - 1.49 To l. ' BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Phil Batchelor Contra County Administrator Costa DATE'. May 14, 1987 County SUBJECT: Legislation: Assembly Bill 1814 (Frizzelle) SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(,S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a position of support for AB 1814 which requires the Grand Jury to meet with a county officer before undertaking an investigation, and to share their report with the official prior to its release to the public. It is also recommended that the County Administrator be authorized to suggest amendments to the author which would expand the requirements of the bill to all officials whose agencies are subject to investigation by the Grand Jury. BACKGROUND: Existing law authorizes a county grand jury to investigate and report upon the needs of county officers. This investigation may include the abolition or creation of offices and the equipment for or the method or system of performing the duties of those offices. This system has the potential to . lead to misunderstandings when Grand Jury recommendations are released publicly without the official involved ever having had an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed report or necessarily to even be aware that an investigation is underway. Assemblyman Frizzelle has introduced AB 1814 which, as amended April 20, 1987, requires the Grand Jury to notify and meet with the county officer or agency to be investigated and then to present the county officer or agency with a draft of the . final report prior to its release. The county official would have the option of preparing a response to the Grand Jury report which would be included in the Grand Jury report. There is also the possibility that the Grand Jury would agree to modify its final report before its public release. It is believed that Grand Juries in this County, particularly the currently impaneled Grand Jury, would find . no problem with this requirement since they have been very open about the nature and direction of their investigations and have agreed to share their reports with affected County officials before the final report CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: X RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE X APPROVE OTHER S 1 GNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON May 19, 1987 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED �_ OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES; NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISOR ON THE DATE SHOO/WN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED O Forewoman, 1986-87 Grand Jury County Counsel PHIL BATCH OR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Jackson/Barish & Associates SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Assemblyman Frizzelle M382/7-83 BY �LC A./ I _,DEPUTY Page 2 is released. This allows for possible correction or clarification of misunderstandings and should produce a more useful document. However, in cases where a Grand Jury might not be as cooperative as is the current Grand Jury, AB 1814 would allow County officials to provide their comments which would have to be inclu°ded in the final report of the Grand Jury. We believe that this process should not be limited to county officials, jbut should be available to all jurisdictions and agencies which are subject to investigation by the Grand Jury. We, therefore, further recommend that the County Administrator seek amendments from the author which would broaden the requirement's of the bill to all jurisdictions subject to Grand Jury investigation.