Rule 556.3. Composition and Organization of the Indicting Grand Jury.
(A) There initially shall be impaneled to serve on an indicting grand jury 23 legally qualified jurors and a minimum of 7 and not more than 15 legally qualified alternates. During its term, the indicting grand jury shall consist, as provided hereinafter, of not less than 15 nor more than 23 legally qualified jurors, and the remaining alternates.
(B) When an indicting grand jury is to be impaneled, the supervising judge in charge of the grand jury shall examine prospective jurors to determine which prospective jurors to excuse for cause. After prospective grand jurors have been excused for cause, the reduction to the minimum of 30 or maximum of 38 shall take place by random drawing in the following manner: 30 to 38 jurors shall be selected by random drawing, of which the first 23 jurors so selected shall be designated permanent grand jurors and the next 7 to 15 jurors shall be designated alternate jurors. Alternate jurors shall replace permanent jurors in the sequence in which the alternate jurors are selected.
(C) Alternate jurors shall attend and participate in sessions of the grand jury but they may not attend or participate in the deliberations and voting until such time as they may be appointed as permanent grand jurors as provided in paragraph (D).
(D) The court shall have the power to permanently excuse a permanent or alternate grand juror for cause at any time during the term of the indicting grand jury. For each such excused permanent grand juror, the court shall appoint a new permanent grand juror from among the available alternates.
(E) Fifteen permanent members of the grand jury shall constitute a quorum, but an affirmative vote of 12 permanent members of the grand jury shall be required to indict.
(F) Whenever the number of permanent grand jurors, including alternates who have been appointed to replace permanent grand jurors, becomes less than 15, the term of the indicting grand jury shall be considered at an end.
(G) The supervising judge shall appoint one of the grand jurors as foreperson and another juror as the deputy foreperson, who will act in the foreperson’s absence. The grand jury shall select one of its members as a secretary to assist the foreperson in keeping a record of the action of the grand jury.
Comment To accommodate the possibility that a grand jury would serve the dual function of both an investigating and indicting grand jury, see Rule 556.1(A), the procedures in this rule comport to the procedures in Rule 222 (Composition and Organization of the Investigating Grand Jury).
The term ‘‘permanent grand juror’’ is used to distinguish grand jurors with the power to vote from alternate grand jurors. The purpose of providing a built-in system of alternates is to ensure the smooth functioning of the grand jury throughout its term and to provide that alternates, when made permanent grand jurors, will be fully cognizant of all the proceedings before the grand jury.
It is intended that no alternate may be appointed as a temporary substitute for a permanent grand juror, and that the court will excuse permanent grand jurors only when necessary and in the interests of justice. However, whenever a permanent juror is excused for cause and an alternate is available to become a permanent grand juror, the court must substitute an alternate for the excused permanent grand juror. It is intended that such substitution be made in the order of the alternate jurors’ numerical designation.
Official Note
New Rule 556.3 adopted June 21, 2012, effective in 180 days.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Final Report explaining the new rule published with the Court’s Order at 42 Pa.B. 4153 (July 7, 2012).
Source The provisions of this Rule 556.3 adopted June 21, 2012, effective In 180 days, 42 Pa.B. 4140.
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