(b) The following oath shall be administered to the foreperson and to each member of the grand jury:
"You, as foreperson (or member) of the grand jury for the County of ________, shall diligently inquire and true presentment make of all such matters and things as shall be given you in the court's charge or shall come to your knowledge touching the present service; and you shall keep the deliberations of the grand jury secret unless called upon to give evidence thereof in some court of law in this state. You shall present no one from envy, hatred, or malice, nor shall you leave anyone unpresented from fear, favor, affection, reward, or the hope thereof, but you shall present all things truly and as they come to your knowledge. So help you God."
(Laws 1812, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 551; Ga. L. 1857, p. 109, § 1; Code 1863, §§ 3827, 3829; Code 1868, §§ 3847, 3850; Code 1873, §§ 3915, 3918; Code 1882, §§ 3915, 3918; Penal Code 1895, §§ 825, 831; Penal Code 1910, §§ 829, 835; Code 1933, §§ 59-208, 59-210; Ga. L. 1994, p. 874, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1292, § 5.)
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Reasons for secrecy are inapplicable to grand jury's civil duties.
- Reasons supporting the policy of grand jury secrecy relate to a grand jury's historic criminal investigatory role, and none of these reasons is relevant to the performance of civil duties by a grand jury. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U80-44.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 38 Am. Jur. 2d, Grand Jury, §§ 24, 25. 47 Am. Jur. 2d, Jury, § 191 et seq.
C.J.S.- 38A C.J.S., Grand Juries, §§ 61, 62. 50A C.J.S., Juries, § 517 et seq.