Lawmakers poised to expand investigative grand juries

RALEIGH — Legislation advancing through the North Carolina Senate would give new powers to investigative grand juries, a move that the attorney general has been pushing for nearly a decade.

A Senate judiciary committee passed a bill Thursday to give the state the ability to call witnesses and compel them to testify in cases of bribery or public corruption. The measure, which now goes to the Senate Finance Committee, passed the House unanimously earlier this month.

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{Attorney General Roy} Cooper said reliance on the federal government can have its limits, and the tool would give the state greater power to investigate any existing corruption for it.

"Accusations of public corruption are often difficult to prove, and law enforcement and prosecutors need better tools to root out wrong doing by government officials," Cooper said in a statement Thursday. "Investigative grand juries can help uncover the truth and restore faith in government."

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