https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/14/santa-clara-county-civil-grand-jury-makes-formal-corruption-accusations-against-sheriff/

SAN JOSE — Santa Clara County’s Civil Grand Jury has taken the bombshell step of moving toward the removal of Sheriff Laurie Smith following an investigation into questions about corruption and jail mismanagement during the back half of Smith’s two-decade tenure.

In an official declaration filed in Superior Court on Tuesday, the civil grand jury accused Smith of seven corruption-related acts, six of them involving ongoing indictments alleging political favoritism and favor trading by leveraging her issuance of concealed-carry weapons permits. The seventh accuses Smith of failing to cooperate with the county law-enforcement auditor in its investigation into negligence allegations from a 2018 jail inmate injury case that led to a $10 million county settlement.