The Sharkey County grand jury was convened Monday by Circuit Court Judge M. James Chaney.

Jurors reviewed evidence in 20 cases against 30 defendants and returned indictments in 15 of the cases. One case was reduced to a misdemeanor, two continued to the January term and in two cases, jurors returned “no-bills,” meaning not enough evidence to go to trial.

Jurors completed their service in one day.

In addition to reviewing evidence in criminal cases, the grand jury toured the Sharkey County courthouse and issued a report of their findings.

Jurors recommended structural improvements to the courthouse including elevators and ramps for elderly and handicapped citizens; ceiling, floor and air conditioning repairs and the installation of ceiling fans to improve air circulation.

The grand jury also said law enforcement personnel need to increase patrols to reinforce their presence in the community, and that the Sharkey County Election Commission needs to provide proper training to election workers.

Eight of the indictments were made public by the district attorney’s office following their arraignment in court, where they were formally advised of the charges against them and assigned a trial date.

Additional arraignments will be held at a later date.

Those arraigned and their charges were:

• Thomas Bolden, 41, street address unavailable, Anguilla — burglary, non-residential, grand larceny and malicious mischief, April 17.

• Erica Renee Cooper, 26, 84 Mickey Road, Rolling Fork — burglary of a dwelling and grand larceny, May 10, 2010, and burglary of a dwelling, July 4.

• Demario T. Davis, 21, 100 North St., Anguilla — grand larceny, May 9.

• Alex Jennings Sr., 40, 505 Pine St., Rolling Fork — domestic aggravated assault-strangling, aggravated assault-domestic violence, burglary of a dwelling and kidnapping, May 13.

• Tommy O’Neal Johnson, 20, 25450 U.S. 61, Lot 4, Anguilla — grand larceny, May 9.

• Jeremy Pollard, 20, 143 Pecan St., Rolling Fork — grand larceny, May 9.

• Tyree O. Sardin Jr., 17, 291 Mulberry Road, Rolling Fork — larceny-stealing dog, July 7.

• Josephine Warren, 30, 738 W. Union St., Greenville — burglary, non-residential, Jan. 18, and vehicle burglary, Jan. 19.