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Grand Jury Report On ECUA Allegations Remains Secret Two Months Later
September 18, 2018
Today marks two months since an an Escambia County grand jury completed its review into complaints and allegations involving the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority. But that report still has not been released.
The grand jury report was sealed by the court and will remained secret until a court orders its release.
“All matters contained in this report are required to remain secret until released by the Court,” a press release from the State Attorney’s Office said on July 18. “For these reasons no further information may be provided by this office regarding this matter.”
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11 Responses to “Grand Jury Report On ECUA Allegations Remains Secret Two Months Later”
Can’t wait to see what happens, I have a problem with the wireless system they attached to my meter, it is obviously manipulated. I shut the water off to the house but their meter kept right on running, they are still saying that my wife and I are using the same amount of water as we did when our 3 kids were here and her sister and brother inlaw with their 2 kids, it’s theft.
Mr. Walker,
Would the attorney you mention be the same one that the Board earlier this year decided to sue for malpractice and the attorney the board continues to use to this day?
Which two board members objected to the report? The two running for re-election? As I said in my first post, this is just a tactic to stall; used to delay the release of the report until after the November elections. (“Due season”, right?)
Thank you Mr. Walker for at least responding. This is more than any of your coworkers have done.
Release of the Grand Jury report WILL be done by the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) in due season, but the procedure is governed by state rules. When the original draft of the report was released to parties directly involved, the ECUA attorney and two individual ECUA board members chose to submit formal responses to the SAO. It may be that other parties filed responses, also.
When responses are filed, the SAO must review them and consider whether to make changes to its original report. Only after this entire process is completed will the Grand Jury report be made public: hence, the delay. But the report WILL be opened to the public, and I know of nothing sinister about the delay.
Anyone else remember the 2004 Grand Jury Ground Water Contamination report? ECUA is cited as mis-characterizing violations when disclosure was made and the former director was “not sufficiently focused on the health, safety, and welfare consequences of his action, but was overly concerned about the public relations and financial aspects of his decisions.” Page 3 of the document below. Looks like this isn’t ECUA’s first Grand Jury rodeo.
https://www.escambiaclerk.com/clerk/forms/grandjuryreports/2004/2004_Grand_Jury_Ground_Water_Contamination.pdf
Denbroc. Record sealing is the practice of sealing or, in some cases, destroying court records that would otherwise be publicly accessible as public records. The term is derived from the tradition of placing a seal on specified files or documents that prevents anyone from reviewing the files without receiving a court order.
This Stinks! Attorney General should explain.
Thanks for republishing this. Neither a grand jury’s findings nor a complaint against a public utility should be censored. This case undermines the public’s trust and confidence in our state government (because ECUA is a state-run utility), and our courts (because these proceedings and the justice that was measured out or denied cannot be known by us). There are no state secrets here that should endanger our freedom or way of life. No reason for this to be a secret. IF it is hidden from us to prevent panic and outrage, then all the more reason why it should be made available. If the policies of our government are outrageous then it should be known.
Please keep a spotlight on this issue until we have transparency and can see whether justice was served.
Ray,
Those commercials are nothing short of campaign ads that you and I pay for. The timing of those ads just before an election is by no means accidental.
*** I challenge any of the board members or the executive director,Steve Sorrell, to respond and tell us just how much those ads cost.***
need to start adding more sewer lines. @Denbroc you are probably correct.
Interesting. Never liked the fact that a county ran service agency changed their name to a commercial sounding one, now they are running commercials on TV talking about innovations they are making. Gotta have some reason for rate increases I guess!
No surprise here. They are just stalling until after the election. I wonder if the report is ever released will we know who held it up?
Thank you NorthEscambia.com for continuing to follow this story.