Grand jury functions and activities in Anne Arundel County in the 20th century were described at length in a series of Bulldog articles, begun in 1996. For a general introduction to grand juries in Maryland, see  Grand Jury System in Vol. 10, No. 3. 

For only four counties does the Archives have grand jury papers and reports prior to 1900. The earliest records come from Frederick County and are found in (Grand Jury Papers) 1784-1847 in series C792 and 1854-1896 in series C793. The collection includes documents filed with the grand juries and orders and reports generated by the jurors. 

Grand juries in Maryland were charged with looking at violations of licensing laws and making recommendations to the court clerk about individuals who should be forbidden from holding or renewing licenses. To assist the jurors the court clerk prepared lists of licenses by type. These lists make up the majority of the records found in C792, and take on added significance for Frederick County since license records prior to 1844 are not extant. The records include the names of the licensees, dates, and sometimes location and encompass the following: ordinaries for 1784-1846, retail liquors for 1799-1827, ferries for 1805-1827, billiard tables for 1805-1846, horse races for 1817-1838, merchants and traders for 1817-1844, hawkers and peddlers for 1823-1846, lottery agents for 1827, victuallers for 1836, stallions and jackasses for 1844-1846, brokers for 1844-1846, and public exhibitions for 1844-1846.

Related documents consist of a list of taverns prepared by the sheriff in 1837 and lists of persons who should be denied licenses for 1844, 1847, and 1866. In 1798 the Frederick County grand jury prepared a report on the proliferation of  unregulated and unlicensed taverns where gambling and cock fighting took place and young men were allowed to congregate. The suggested remedy was a call for law abiding citizens to present their complaints before the grand jury. The 1895 report noted a high number of traders failing to take out licenses. In "the more glaring instances Indictments have been found. The other cases we thought best to ignore, as many, doubtless, are the result of inadvertances." 

Other documents filed with the jurors included a list of public roads and overseers appointed by the court in 1784, lists of constables for 1817-1846, and lists of people in jail awaiting trial for 1798, 1835-1838, 1854, and 1875-1877. Overseers not keeping assigned roads repaired were subject to fines. The grand jury could report constables not fulfilling their police powers to the county judges. The lists of inmates may have stemmed from the role of the grand jury in considering criminal charges or in inspecting the jail. 

The main function of the grand jury flowed from its authority to pursue wrong doing, whether by licensees or murderers, and, and where appropriate, forward indictments to the court. Upon dismissing charges against an individual already incarcerated, the jury issued an order for release from jail. 

Examples are found in the records of 1865 and 1866. Statistics on the amount of criminal business handled by the grand jury does not appear until 1891 when 226 cases were considered, with 129 presentments and 97 dismissals, and 527 witnesses were heard. At the same time the jurors urged greater enforcement of laws concerning concealed weapons, firearm sales, sexual assaults, gambling, and liquor sales. In 1892 the grand jury estimated that 2/3 of the charges it considered involved violations of the laws regulating liquor sales to minors and on Sunday. 

Reports on investigations of public facilities in Frederick County begin to appear in the grand jury papers in 1837 when the jail and almshouse were visited. The jurors deemed the facilities in good condition, except for needed floor repairs at the jail and constructions of a walk around the front yard. Reports exist sporadically for the jail through 1896, and for the almshouse through 1892. The grand juries usually gave favorable ratings to both facilities, but seemingly pegged at a low level for furnishing, as stated in 1855,  the "care and comfort of the unfortunate inmates in as good condition as circumstances admit." But the jail building itself was described as insecure and overcrowded from 1864 through 1871. The county completed construction of a new facility in 1875. During the 1890s the jail housed an average of about twenty prisoners at a time. 

In 1870 the county erected Montevue Hospital for the care of insane, indigent citizens. In its reports the grand juries praised the institution, and not until
1891 did criticisms appear. The jurors recommended use of the old farm house for housing African American residents in order to relieve overcrowding in the main building. The facility was then caring for 223 people. The number reached 303 by 1894, which included 51 tramps and 125 insane persons. In 1895 the hospital's potato crop averaged 250 bushels per acre.

Other investigations conducted by the grand jurors in the 1890s included front doors of public buildings, such as schools and churches, that illegally and unsafely opened inward and expenditures of public moneys by county and municipal officials. In the latter area the grand jury concluded that it needed more time and the services of financial experts. 

Although incomplete, the Frederick County grand jury papers provide a good representation of the activities of this judicial body and contain information supplemental to other records.