who makes up a grand jury in washington dc
Grand juries in the United States
In Kentucky , grand jurors are impaneled in each county , at the Circuit Court level ( felonies only ) for a four - month term ( three panels per year ) . During the trial jury orientation for the given four - month term , the grand jurors are selected from the trial jury pool , although the method of selection is not necessarily random . The meetings are twice a month in most counties ( however , grand juries in more populous counties such as Jefferson ( Louisville ) and Fayette ( Lexington ) generally meet more often ) , with each meeting usually going through 20 - 30 cases in a four - to five - hour period . The indictment rate is about 98 - 99 % ; the grand jury can broaden ( about 1 % of the time ) or narrow ( about 3 % of the time ) the counts in the indictment as well . Usually , fifteen to twenty grand jurors are required to report to meetings ; the hope is that twelve will show to each meeting , which is the number of jurors required to hear cases ( an additional juror may be kept as an alternate while other extra jurors are typically excused for the day ) . It takes nine yes votes to the question of probable cause to sign a true bill of indictment . Fewer than nine yes votes either causes a no true bill or a narrowing of the indictment ( depending on the votes per count ) .
In Kentucky , grand jurors are impaneled in each county , at the Circuit Court level ( felonies only ) for a four - month term ( three panels per year ) . During the trial jury orientation for the given four - month term , the grand jurors are selected from the trial jury pool , although the method of selection is not necessarily random . The meetings are twice a month in most counties ( however , grand juries in more populous counties such as Jefferson ( Louisville ) and Fayette ( Lexington ) generally meet more often ) , with each meeting usually going through 20 - 30 cases in a four - to five - hour period . The indictment rate is about 98 - 99 % ; the grand jury can broaden ( about 1 % of the time ) or narrow ( about 3 % of the time ) the counts in the indictment as well . Usually , fifteen to twenty grand jurors are required to report to meetings ; the hope is that twelve will show to each meeting , which is the number of jurors required to hear cases ( an additional juror may be kept as an alternate while other extra jurors are typically excused for the day ) . It takes nine yes votes to the question of probable cause to sign a true bill of indictment . Fewer than nine yes votes either causes a no true bill or a narrowing of the indictment ( depending on the votes per count ) .