establishing investigatory grand juries housed under the county sheriffs' offices.

HB 1639 creates a new process for county-level "petition-initiated special grand juries" that can be activated when 500 qualified voters in a county sign a petition. These grand juries, housed under county sheriffs' offices, would investigate public institutions, detention facilities, financial entities, election/tax administration, and corporate misconduct. Counties would cover all costs for convening these juries and conducting investigations, including audits of public entities receiving taxpayer funds. The bill requires counties to support these juries' operations while granting them authority to inspect facilities, review records, and issue public reports on findings. This directly affects county governments, public agencies, and facilities receiving public funding by establishing a new voter-driven oversight mechanism.