Santa Barbara County Superior Court Executive Officer Gary Blair has announced that the court is seeking volunteers for the 2012-13 Civil Grand Jury.

To be considered for service, an applicant must be a U.S. citizen, be age 18 or older, be of good character, have been a resident of Santa Barbara County for at least a year and have never been convicted of a felony or malfeasance in office.

Some of the principal functions of the Grand Jury include investigation and review of the departments and special districts of county and city government; involvement in fiscal or management audits; and the preparation of reports on related matters. Reports are then filed with recommendations for improvement of operations.

Service on the Grand Jury is for a period of one year, from July 1 through June 30, and usually involves about 25 hours per week. There is no question that service on the Grand Jury is an enormous service of time; however, it is an excellent opportunity to learn about the inner workings of government, while providing a valuable service to the community.

Applications for the 2012-13 Grand Jury can be obtained from the court’s Jury Services office in Santa Barbara at 805.882.4530 or Santa Maria at 805.614.6464, or downloaded from the court’s website at www.sbcourts.org.

Applications should be submitted no later than Friday, April 20 to Santa Barbara County Superior Court, Jury Services, 1108 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

The new Grand Jury will begin July 1 and serve through June 30, 2013.

— Angela Braun is the jury services supervisor for Santa Barbara County Superior Court.