Missoula County voices opposition to ‘citizen grand jury’ bill
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) As the legislative session pushes forward, Missoula County continues to review a slate of bills it either supports or opposes, or generally has no opinion on.
On Tuesday, the county voiced opposition to one measure, that being a constitutional amendment allowing for a citizen grand jury.
In the county's view, HB 460 has a number of flaws, said CAO Chris Lounsbury.
“We don't normally weigh in on constitutional amendments, but this one is a little unique,” he said. “It would allow for folks to call a citizen grand jury. You could get signatures on a petition and impanel a grand jury to investigate anything. It doesn't have any sideboards on what can be investigated.”
The measure would amend Article II of the Montana Constitution to allow a process in which a grand jury may be called by the electors of any county in the state. The bill's text hearkens “the spirit of Abraham Lincoln” and suggests that a citizen grand jury is “the link in the chain that resists tyranny.”
According to the bill, a Montana grand jury only investigates possible criminal activity and hands down an indictment if probable cause exists. The bill doesn't state under what conditions a citizen grand jury can be convened, or for what crimes.
“A grand jury so summoned and impaneled shall first consider any cause advanced by those who have brought and signed the petition,” the bill reads. “The grand jury is the sole judge of its own duration and the breadth and depth of its own inquiry.”
The measure also states that if a citizen grand jury indicts, then the county attorney in the county where the alleged offenses occurred must prosecute the offender. If the county attorney fails to do so, he or she may be indicted for obstruction.
“A citizen grand jury could convict people of things that aren't a crime, and the county attorney would have to prosecute regardless,” said Lounsbury. “Most states have removed these from being things. It hamstrings local officials and forces them to do things that under normal circumstances they wouldn't be able to do.”