(a) The court shall appoint one of the number of every grand jury as foreman. (b) Every grand jury may appoint one of the members to be clerk, to preserve and keep minutes of their proceedings and of the evidence given before them. (1) However, the presiding judge of the circuit court, at his or […]
The minutes of the proceedings and evidence shall be delivered to the prosecuting attorney when directed by the grand jury.
(a) The grand jury must inquire: (1) Into the case of every person imprisoned in the county jail or detention facility or on bail who has not been charged by indictment or information within sixty (60) days of arrest; (2) Into the condition and management of the public prisons of the county; and (3) Into […]
(a) The clerk, on the request of the foreman of the grand jury or of the prosecuting attorney, shall issue subpoenas for witnesses to appear before the grand jury. Upon the witnesses failing to attend in obedience thereto, the court shall proceed to coerce their attendance and may punish their disobedience by fine and imprisonment, […]
The foreman of the grand jury shall have power to administer the oath to the witnesses appearing before the grand jury.
In all cases where two (2) or more persons are jointly or otherwise concerned in the commission of any criminal offense, either of the persons may be sworn as a witness in relation to the criminal offense, but the testimony given by the witness in no instance shall be used against him or her in […]
When a witness, under examination, refuses to testify or to answer a question put to him or her by the grand jury, the foreman shall proceed with the witness into the presence of the court, and there distinctly state the refusal of the witness. If the judge, upon hearing the witness, shall decide that the […]
(a) If there is a reasonable belief that a material witness in any grand jury investigation may absent himself or herself from the jurisdiction or otherwise avoid service of a subpoena, a judicial officer, as defined in Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure 1.6(c), shall impose conditions of release pursuant to Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure […]
(a) It shall be the duty of the foreman of each grand jury in this state to keep an abstract showing the name of each person subpoenaed and appearing as a witness before the grand jury, the number of days attended, and the amount due the person as a witness. The abstract shall be verified […]
Before any editor, reporter, or other writer for any newspaper, periodical, radio station, television station, or internet news source, or publisher of any newspaper, periodical, or internet news source, or manager or owner of any radio station shall be required to disclose to any grand jury or to any other authority the source of information […]
The grand jury is not bound to hear evidence for the defendant, but it is their duty to weigh all the evidence before them. If they believe that other evidence will explain away the charge, they should order the evidence to be produced.
No persons except the prosecuting attorney, the court reporter, and the witnesses under examination are permitted to be present while the grand jury is examining a charge, and no person whatever shall be present while the grand jury is deliberating or voting on a charge.
(a) The grand jury should find an indictment when all the evidence before them, taken together, would, in their judgment, if unexplained, warrant a conviction by the trial jury. (b) All the papers and other matters of evidence relating to the arrest and examination of the charges against persons committed or on bail which have […]
(a) Every member of the grand jury must keep secret whatever the member or any other grand juror may have said, or in what manner he or she or any grand juror may have voted on a matter before them. (b) (1) No grand juror shall disclose any evidence given before the grand jury except […]
The grand jury may, at all reasonable times, ask the advice of the court or the prosecuting attorney.
Any grand juror may be indicted by the grand jury of which he or she is a member, but when any complaint shall be lodged against a grand juror, the foreman shall inform the prosecuting attorney of the charge. If, on examination, there are grounds for proceedings against the juror, the foreman shall inform the […]
(a) At any time a grand jury is not in session, the court, in its discretion, by order entered of record, may impanel a special grand jury. (b) When impaneled, the special grand jury shall have all the powers and proceed in all respects as provided by law for the conduct of regular grand juries.
Grand juries may employ experts and other professionals to assist in the grand jury investigations if, prior to the employment, the quorum court and county judge approve the employment. In that case, all expenses resulting from the employment shall be paid by the county.
