The Grand Jury Task Force, formed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2017, issued its report in November 2019, recommending numerous changes to state grand jury procedure. This column discusses the changes recommended to the duties of the supervising grand jury judges’ position.

The report stated that the task force received considerable input from both jurists and practitioners regarding the role played by supervising grand jury judges. Information from other sources confirmed that the task force members were surprised at the comments received from the judges themselves as to the need for changes and training. The report said, “These contributors identified a list of obstacles … including inadequate training, limited written resources and insufficient support.” These comments are similar to comments made by the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL), and my own comments in the Legal Intelligencer in the last several years.