By Vicky Li
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Monday, the Sacramento County Grand Jury released its final quarterly report, concluding its 2024-2025 investigative term. The combined report included the Grand Jury’s extensive research into Sacramento County’s agencies and operations and reflected its role as the “public watchdog.”
The Grand Jury’s first report focused on the Batterer’s Treatment Program (BTP) and its stagnant progress in educating and rehabilitating people convicted of felony domestic violence.
The Grand Jury’s review of the BTP highlighted several issues, including a lack of supervision, failure to maintain complete records of participant progress, and financial barriers that make enrollment more difficult than necessary, the report stated.
“But the reality is that after 30 years, the failure rate is extremely high and there is little evidence that the original concept reduces domestic violence,” the Grand Jury’s report concluded.
To address these issues, the Grand Jury recommended implementing tailored risk assessments, weekly recordkeeping, and that the probation division request funding from the Community Corrections Act, the Community Corrections Partnership, or any state or federal programs to help offset BTP fees.
The Grand Jury’s second report discussed Sacramento County’s local education agencies and their failure to effectively use arts education funds allocated under Proposition 28.
Proposition 28, a 2022 initiative, aimed to increase funding for arts education in schools. The Grand Jury noted it was approved by 65% of Sacramento County voters, reflecting a strong public commitment to arts and music education.
“The purpose of Proposition 28 is to increase total spending on visual and performing arts education in California’s public schools… schools are required to use Proposition 28 funds to increase and not replace existing spending for arts education,” the Grand Jury reported.
The investigation found schools lacked transparency regarding existing arts education funding and how newly allocated funds were spent, violating requirements for obtaining the funds. Additionally, many schools failed to post financial reports in accessible locations, resulting in lost funding opportunities, the report stated.
To address these failures, the Grand Jury recommended setting a strict deadline for disclosure of prior year arts education spending, directing staff to post clear annual reports in accessible locations on school websites, and advising governing boards to adopt multi-year plans for expanded arts programming.
The Grand Jury’s third report examined financial abuse of the elderly.
“Financial abuse can have devastating consequences for the elderly. The financial losses from this type of abuse, even minor losses, can lead to greater reliance on others for support, including family, friends, or government assistance. Beyond the economic strain, financial abuse often causes significant emotional and physical harm to victims,” the report found.
The Grand Jury concluded that Sacramento County had no proactive strategy to combat the issue and that financial abuse cases received low prioritization.
The report found that Adult Protective Services’ internal reporting systems did not require consistent data entry, making them unreliable for tracking cases or identifying which law enforcement agencies received referrals.
The Grand Jury also reported that some law enforcement agencies failed to consistently track elder financial abuse cases, making it more difficult to follow up.
In addition, the District Attorney’s Office no longer had dedicated staff for elder abuse cases and lacked funding to fill the positions.
The Grand Jury noted that the DA’s Financial Crimes and Real Estate Fraud unit only prosecuted cases involving high-dollar losses or multiple victims, allowing many perpetrators to avoid consequences.
The Grand Jury recommended that Adult Protective Services (APS) implement a reliable data collection system, that all law enforcement agencies begin tracking elder financial abuse cases, and that the DA’s Office hire specialized staff to handle such cases.
The Grand Jury’s final quarterly report evaluated the City of Isleton’s governance for the tenth time in 35 years.
The report found complaints about the Isleton City Council’s financial mismanagement, lack of oversight of city operations, and failure to follow state law and municipal code.
The Grand Jury concluded that these failures were contributing to a worsening financial crisis and that Council members lacked the understanding needed to resolve it.
The investigation found that the Isleton City Council repeatedly failed to file final budgets and violated both state law and its municipal code by not completing annual independent audits in a timely manner.
“This is not the first time this Grand Jury has found Isleton was operating without budgets. The Grand Jury investigations in 2005-2006 and 2007-2008 found Isleton was operating without budgets for several years,” the report stated.
The Council also failed to provide adequate oversight of finances and operations, resulting in uninformed decisions that left the city in debt, the report found.
To address the issues, the Grand Jury recommended setting a firm deadline for final budgets and advised Council members to work closely with city staff to stay informed about the city’s financial status.
The Grand Jury also recommended that each Council member undergo training and publicly verify completion to ensure they are prepared to carry out their responsibilities.
