By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A special grand jury has been empaneled in Gwinnett County for the first time in 20 years -- this time to investigate the county commission's land purchases over the past four years.

District Attorney Danny Porter said Wednesday that officers have been selected and a tentative schedule has been set for the 23-member tribunal.

This week's action follows a series of investigations by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that highlighted four occasions in which the county government bought land for parks from politically connected developers. The AJC investigation  questioned the purchase prices and appraisals..

"It's a highly unusual legal mechanism," Porter said. "[Its] limited purpose is to look into real estate acquisitions by the Gwinnett County Board of commissioners since 2005."

Porter said he could not convince the regular grand jury to take on the task of poring over years of land deals because of the size and scope of the investigation. The special grand jury will have the authority to subpoena witnesses, obtain documents and hire experts for its investigation.

"There's a lot of paperwork, a lot of facts," Porter said, "and a regular grand jury is pretty busy listening to criminal cases, doing the regular stuff they're required to do."

When the probe is concluded, the panel is expected to issue a report disclosing its findings and decision on whether indictments are warranted. Gwinnett's superior court judges would then vote on any further action they want the panel to take on the matter..

The last time a special grand jury was empaneled in Gwinnett County was in 1989 when then-District Attorney Tom Lawler sought to investigate potential price fixing on milk contracts to local schools. Earlier that year, a special grand jury was empaneled to probe a lavish trip county officials took to New York at the taxpayers' expense.

AJC Results

On May 26,  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Gwinnett County paid twice the appraised value for a 33-acre tract near Lawrenceville earlier that month. On Aug. 2, the AJC reported that politically connected developers had benefited from county parkland purchases on at least four occasions in the past two years.