Opinion No. (2003)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE NORMAN L. VROMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, COUNTY OF MENDOCINO, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a county board of supervisors contract with a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation to promote tourism and commerce if a court has ruled that the corporation would not be performing a "function" of the county and would not be operating "on behalf of' the county as those terms are used in the statutes governing the investigative authority of a grand jury? CONCLUSION A county board of supervisors may contract with a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation to promote tourism and commerce even though a court has ruled that the corporation would not be performing a "function" of the county and would not be operating "on behalf of" the county as those terms are used in the statutes governing the investigative authority of a grand jury. ANALYSIS The question presented for analysis concerns a county's advertising contract with a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation to promote tourism and commerce within the county and the authority of the county grand jury to examine the books and records of the…