§ 132.120 Jury service term; continuation

A grand jury normally serves for a set period of time. Once that time is up, the court has to formally let the grand jury go. This keeps grand juries from continuing indefinitely without any oversight.

However, a judge can decide to keep the grand jury working longer if needed. To do this, the judge has to issue an official order, either in court or at their office within the same judicial district. The order has to explain why more time is needed, and it has to be entered into the official court record.

In short, this rule sets up the normal end point for a grand jury's service, but it also gives judges a clear, documented way to extend that service when there's a good reason to do so.