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Proposed Program

Our grand juries should look like all of us

Humboldt County's Civil Grand Jury is one of the most powerful accountability tools we have. Right now, only people who can afford to work for free get to use it. We propose to change that.

The barrier is financial

Humboldt County pays civil grand jurors $20 per general session meeting, and $20 for every additional seven hours of committee work or site investigation. That rate is set by county ordinance and has not changed since 2007.

The term is one year, July 1 to June 30. The court asks for 10 to 30 hours per week. At the ordinance's own unit rate, seven hours of work pays $20 - about $2.86 an hour, against a California minimum wage of $16.90.

As the North Coast Journal put it in 2024: jurors "essentially volunteer their time."

And the work happens during business hours - weekly sessions Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, with investigations, tours, and interviews scheduled across the work week. The county's own application form asks prospective jurors: "will your employer allow you the necessary time off?" For anyone who needs their job, that question is where civic oversight ends.

Who serves now

This is not our estimate. Under California Rule of Court 10.625, the Superior Court collects and publishes the demographics of everyone who applies. These are the court's own figures for the 2026-2027 term.

Of the 25 candidates who reported race or ethnicity - on a form that lets you select more than one - none identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, and none as Hispanic or Latino. Twenty-three of 25 identified as White.

Humboldt County is approximately 12% Native American (alone or in combination) and 15% Latino.

Of the 24 who reported their age, 16 were 65 or older and only two were under 45. Not one candidate was between 35 and 44. The most commonly selected occupation was "retired."

Adults 65 and over are 27% of Humboldt County's adult population. In the grand jury applicant pool they are two-thirds.

The state has already named the cause

"Currently, most grand jury service is voluntary. It comes with a meager per diem. As a result, the composition of grand juries tends to be older, whiter, and more affluent than the community they serve."

California Senate Judiciary Committee, analysis of AB 1972, June 28, 2022

The California Grand Jurors' Association opposed that bill, on cost grounds. It conceded the mechanism anyway: paying higher per diems "will likely expand the pool of citizens who are able to devote a year of their lives to grand jury service, thus increasing grand juries' economic and racial diversity."

We want to be precise about what money does and does not fix. Los Angeles County pays three times Humboldt's rate and its applicant pool is still about 69% age 65 and over. A stipend removes a barrier; it does not by itself produce a representative jury. Recruitment method matters too - Sacramento County mails invitations to thousands of randomly selected residents, and has a markedly younger and more diverse pool. We are proposing to remove the barrier we can remove, and to measure what happens.

What that buys

The Civil Grand Jury examines all aspects of county and city government, including special districts and joint powers agencies. Humboldt County's adopted budget alone was $629.8 million for FY 2025-26. The cities, districts, and JPAs sit on top of that.

The county funds the body that oversees all of it with $60,215 a year and zero allocated staff. That is about one cent for every hundred dollars under review.

The court is already asking for help

This is not a problem we are introducing to the court. The Superior Court has said it publicly, every recruitment cycle. In May 2025:

"To date we have not received enough applications to proceed with our normal member selection process and timeline."

Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt, press release, May 22, 2025

In May 2026 the court's release was headed "Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury Needs More Applicants." The 2023-24 grand jury closed its final report advising that the court "is in desperate need of jurors," and in September 2025 the sitting jury reported itself "desperately in need of more Alternates."

Longtime jurors describe a decade-long decline in applications. If the trend holds and 19 volunteers cannot be found, the court may have to move to a summons system - conscripting the county's oversight body rather than recruiting it.

This has already been tested in California

In March 2022, the San Francisco Financial Justice Project, the San Francisco Superior Court, the Public Defender's Office, the District Attorney's Office, and the Bar Association of San Francisco launched Be the Jury, raising juror pay from $15 to $100 per day for low- and moderate-income jurors.

  • 84% of participants said they could not have served without the stipend.
  • ~60% identified as people of color, closely matching the city's registered voters.
  • 1,000+ San Franciscans participated in the first year.
  • The pilot led to AB 881 (Ting), "Be The Jury California."

One important distinction: Be the Jury addressed trial juries. No California county has yet applied the same approach to a civil grand jury - a twelve-month commitment with a far steeper financial barrier. That is the gap this program closes, and it is why Humboldt would be first.

What the program provides

Living wage stipend

$175/day, competitive with local median wages, replacing lost income.

Childcare support

Up to $75/day so parents are not excluded from civic oversight.

Transportation

Mileage reimbursement and transit support, weighted toward rural residents.

Training

$500 orientation stipend plus ongoing civic education.

Community support

Mentorship, peer networks, and organizational connections.

First-year budget: $137,750, supporting four grant recipients annually. Partial funding supports two to three recipients; the program will not launch until support is meaningful for everyone accepted.

How it would roll out

Phase 1

Program infrastructure

  • Bilingual application portal and support systems
  • Outreach to underrepresented communities
  • Selection committee coordination and training
  • Evaluation and impact documentation
Phase 2

Community outreach

  • Partnerships with tribal governments and community organizations
  • Application assistance workshops countywide
  • Awareness campaign
  • Selection committee with diverse representation
Phase 3

First cohort

  • Applications open February 2027
  • Selection March-April 2027
  • First recipients begin service July 2027
  • Real-time evaluation and refinement
Phase 4

Sustainability and replication

  • Diversified funding, reduced grant dependence
  • Model documentation for other California counties
  • Expansion toward 6-8 recipients annually

Who it is for

No special experience required - commitment to community, critical thinking, and the ability to serve 10-30 hours per week for twelve months.

The program prioritizes working parents, Native American and Latino/Hispanic community members, rural residents facing geographic and economic barriers, and households under $75,000 - the people currently priced out of county oversight.

Independence

A grant program supporting the county's watchdogs has to answer an obvious question: does outside money compromise the jury's independence? We think the structure has to answer it, not the intentions.

Statutory juror fees are paid by the county treasurer on the written order of a Superior Court judge, under Penal Code section 890.1. This program is designed to sit outside that mechanism, not to replace or supplement it, and the Coalition would be screened from juror selection and from any matter a sitting jury is examining. The court sets those terms, not us.

There is precedent. In July 2025 the Civil Grand Jury, having agreed to reduce its own budget during the county shortfall, publicly welcomed "community organization and individual contributions toward printing, meeting venue rental, and office supplies."

Where this stands

This is a proposal. It is not operating, and no one has been funded. We are seeking the support of the Humboldt County Superior Court and building the funding partnerships to launch it.

We are seeking foundation partners and major donors. Full program documentation, evaluation frameworks, and replication plans are available on request.

Support the program

$175 covers one day of civic service for someone who could not otherwise afford to participate. If ten of us give $20, that day is covered.

Founding Champion

$35,000

Fully funds one grant recipient for a full term.

  • Annual impact report on your recipient’s contributions
  • Recognition at program launch
  • Founding supporter status for a first-in-state program

Impact Partner

$15,000–$20,000

Underwrites core program operations.

  • Co-sponsor recognition on program materials
  • Invitation to observe the selection committee
  • Quarterly program updates

Community Builder

$5,000–$10,000

Funds essential program elements.

  • Recognition on website and materials
  • Program launch invitation

Democracy Supporter

$2,500–$5,000

Builds the foundation the program stands on.

The Transparent Humboldt Coalition is a California 501(c)(4) nonprofit, corporation #6186654. Contributions are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions. Support is applied to program operations as described above.

Sources

We ask public institutions to show their work, so here is ours. Every figure on this page comes from a public record. Check any of them.

The Superior Court periodically removes older press releases from its website. We keep copies of the court documents cited here and will provide them on request.