Bd. of Ret. of Santa Barbara Cty. v. Santa Barbara Cty. Grand Jury
Opinion
Opinion
Stone, J.
May the county grand jury investigate complaints of delays by the county board of retirement in processing disability retirement applications of county employees pursuant to the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937? (Gov. Code, § 31450 et seq.) Yes, it may.
Respondent, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury (grand jury), received complaints from present and former employees of the County of Santa Barbara about delays by appellant, the Board of Retirement for the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (Board), in processing applications for disability retirements. The grand jury initiated an investigation of the purported delays. The Board filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, asserting that the grand jury is without jurisdiction to investigate the matter.
The trial court denied the complaint and entered judgment in favor of the grand jury. We issued a stay to halt further investigation pending this appeal. We conclude that the grand jury has jurisdiction to proceed with the instant investigation. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and dissolve the stay.