San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart could be in violation of the California Penal Code for sharing an unofficial copy of a confidential SLO County grand jury report.
Last year, the grand jury investigation of SLO’s handling of unruly fraternity parties in residential areas found that the city’s methods weren’t effective. The investigation culminated in the June 23, 2025, “Round and Round with Town and Gown” report, which was contested by city staff and officials.
Ten days before publishing the report, the grand jury sent Stewart an unofficial copy for review, in accordance with California Penal Code 933.05 (f). Under the penal code, the official grand jury report in draft form should be submitted to the affected agency two working days before its release.
An accompanying June 13, 2025, letter from the grand jury detailed the law, specifying that no officer, agency, department, or governing body of a public agency should disclose any contents of the report before the public release of the final report.
Text messages between Stewart and Cal Poly Senior Director of Economic Development Courtney Kienow, obtained through records requests from resident Kathie Walker, show that the mayor sent Kienow the report on the same day. Walker created a website, thepublicfile.org, and posted the records there for public viewing.
“I’m working on a rebuttal,” Kienow wrote in a text message to Stewart. “Problem: Cal Poly is not identified in the report as a required respondent so I don’t believe they [grand jury] intend to share it with us at all before it’s published. Our leadership has not received it!”
On June 16, 2025, Kienow texted the mayor saying many people had advance copies of the report at that point, and that the grand jury will “never know it came from you.”
“I told Whitney that I had assumed the university was going to be asked to respond, therefore I gave it to you,” Stewart replied. “So, if it ever comes up, I’m fine with being outed if I have to.”
The 2025-26 grand jury acknowledged in its final report on June 23, 2026, that Cal Poly responded to it directly about the Town and Gown report on June 16, 2025—a full week before the report’s official release.
“Evidently Cal Poly was given a copy of the final report prior to its release date,” the grand jury wrote. “This action is not in compliance with the procedure prescribed in the penal code.”
The grand jury recommended that the incoming 2026-27 jury should start a fresh investigation to determine if the city carried out the recommendations included in the Town and Gown report.
‘Evidently Cal Poly was given a copy of the final report prior to its release date. This action is not in compliance with the procedure prescribed in the Penal Code.’
—SLO County grand jury final report
The grand jury’s 2025-26 foreperson, Catherine David, told New Times she isn’t permitted to discuss proceedings beyond what’s contained in the report. She added that the grand jury lacks jurisdiction over any state entity, including Cal Poly.
During KVEC’s Hometown Radio show on June 15, Stewart maintained that she hadn’t broken any laws and confirmed that given the chance for a do-over, she would share the grand jury report with Cal Poly again.
She told New Times that she believed Cal Poly was among the stakeholders that had received the letter and unofficial report from the grand jury because of the history of collaboration between the city and the university.
“In order to provide a thorough and factual response to the grand jury report, I believed it was necessary to receive data from one of the stakeholders of this report, Cal Poly, in order to serve the interests of both parties in a fair-minded and evenhanded fashion,” Stewart said.
Breaking the penal code could mean legal consequences for a public official.
In 2025, former Santa Clara City Councilmember Anthony Becker was sentenced to jail for lying under oath to the Santa Clara County civil grand jury and for disclosing a confidential draft grand jury report to the San Francisco 49ers and the team’s chief of communications—prosecuted as a felony and misdemeanor, respectively. Becker received 40 days in jail with two years on probation.
It’s unclear if the SLO County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute Stewart for the alleged penal code violation. DA Dan Dow told New Times he’s aware of the allegation but can’t confirm or deny if public integrity investigations are ongoing.
“It is definitely a violation of California’s penal code for any individual to share a confidential grand jury report that has not been publicly released by the grand jury,” he said via email. “That includes the unlawful sharing with any third party of an embargoed copy.” ∆
This article appears in June 25 – July 2, 2026.
