General Presentments and Reports
It is customary for the grand jury to make a report to the superior court either at the end of the term or when they have completed the majority of their work. This report, traditionally known as a general presentment, can contain general information about the work of the grand jury during the term, their findings resulting from the performance of their civil duties and making appropriate recommendations in areas within their jurisdiction. The general presentments may also contain suggestions to the succeeding grand jury.
With some very limited exceptions, the general presentments are merely the recommendations of the grand jurors and are not self-executing. The grand jury may recommend to the presiding judge that their general presentments be published and the manner in which they are to be published. The judge is required to review the general presentments and determine if they can be filed or published.
By statute, the grand jury is required to include certain matters in their general presentments. These include:
- A report concerning the results of their inspection of the tax execution docket and cash book of the county tax collector or tax commissioner.
- A report that the grand jury has inspected the reports of receipts and disbursements of the probate court, clerk of superior court and county treasurer and found them to be correct.
- A finding regarding the record of inmates at the county jail.
In preparing general presentments, you must be aware that there are limits imposed by the appellate courts on their contents. While reports of a general nature concerning areas where the grand jury has a statutory duty to inspect or investigate are acceptable, courts have repeatedly held that the grand jury cannot include, in a report or general presentment, comments which charge or accuse identifiable person(s) of misconduct. This, the courts have said, can only be done by a "true bill" of indictment or special presentment charging such person(s) with a crime.
The reason for this, the Georgia Supreme Court has explained, is that "when an indictment is returned, the accused has the right of an open hearing in which to be tried and assert his innocence. Reports (or general presentments) . . . offer no such right to the one defamed . . . [T]he individual who is named in the report or identifiable from it has little if any opportunity to adequately respond to the report’s accusations."
Where the grand jury has a clear statutory duty to report its findings, it may make a "fair report[ ] . . . even though such report[ ] of necessity incidently reflect[s] negligence or incompetence." In all other instances, the courts hold that the grand jury may make only "general recommendations" which do not contain "reflections of misconduct." If the general presentments go beyond these limits, the court may seal or reject all or a portion of them. Additionally, any person identified in the general presentment may have the court expunge the critical portions from the public records.
Thus grand jurors, including members of grand jury committees, must exercise both discretion and care in the drafting of their general presentments if they contain matters which may be interpreted by others as being critical of any identifiable person or institution. By so doing they will minimize the probability that all or a portion of the general presentments will be expunged or not accepted by the court.