Chief officer honored with county official of the year award
while department takes home CSAC Challenge honors
Brent Cardall, the chief probation officer for San Benito
County, was named the County Official of the Year for the PublicCEO
Local Government Awards.
Cardall received the award in March and a posting on the
PublicCEO website from March 30 lists some of the reasons he was
selected for the honor. PublicCEO is a website that covers city,
county and special districts throughout California. It is read by
county administrators, city managers and others interested in
government news.
Chief officer honored with county official of the year award while department takes home CSAC Challenge honors
Brent Cardall, the chief probation officer for San Benito County, was named the County Official of the Year for the PublicCEO Local Government Awards.
Cardall received the award in March and a posting on the PublicCEO website from March 30 lists some of the reasons he was selected for the honor. PublicCEO is a website that covers city, county and special districts throughout California. It is read by county administrators, city managers and others interested in government news.
Cardall said he hadn’t heard about the website before he won the award.
“They actually just called me and said, ‘Hey, you’ve won this award for all counties within California,” Cardall said, adding that he thinks he was selected because his department has been recognized by the California State Association of Counties. “I was obviously honored, but it was a total shock. I had no idea it was coming my way.”
He added that much of the credit goes to the staff who has worked hard to implement new programs and has worked to “beef up our public safety.”
“It represents the entire department, not just me,” Cardall said.
Under his direction, the San Benito County Probation Department has won two California State Association of Counties Challenge Awards, one in 2009 and again for 2010. Each county can submit a nomination, and they are divided by small, medium and large counties before being graded.
“We’ve been pretty creative,” he said. “We’ve gotten the community involved, which is something other counties have not done. We are getting their support and help because really it’s a community problem, not just a problem for corrections.”
Cardall and the staff in his department worked with high school students shortly after he arrived to create a video that explains what it is like inside the juvenile detention center. The video is shown to parents who want to know what the intake process will be like for their children as well as the juveniles who are incarcerated. The video has also been shown to other minors as a deterrent.
Last year, the department worked with other community organizations to create a Night Reporting program. At the Night Reporting Center, Cardall’s staff members teamed up with volunteers from the Presbyterian Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to offer tutoring for juvenile offenders, parenting classes for adults and other support for both groups.
“We have 107 volunteers working for the probation department,” Cardall said. “It’s another area that is really explosive.”
Volunteers have to go through a background check and be fingerprinted because many of them work with juveniles, but Cardall said they’ve had many willing to go through the process.
According to Cardall, the center has saved the county more than $100,000. More than the money savings, he stressed that the program provides mentors to those on probation, some who have never had one before.
One of the components of the Night Reporting program is the Community Review Board, a group of community members who don’t have a background in law enforcement who can hear cases of minor infractions.
When the program started a year ago, Cardall explained that the offenders who would be allowed to appear before the board would include those who have technical violations of their probation agreements – not for any actually criminal violations. The board can give out sanctions for things such as missing curfew, violating an agreement not to drink alcohol, or other minor offenses. The sanctions can include items such as writing reports or doing community service.
Cardall shared a story of one offender who had not been paying his fines. When the members of the community action board asked why he wasn’t paying he said he didn’t have any money. They then asked why he didn’t get a job. He said he didn’t have a license to be able to drive to a job.
“Getting to the root of the problem is what this board does,” Cardall said.
They helped the man set a first goal to get enough money to get his license back. Then he was able to look for a job – some of the board members referred him to jobs. Once he had a job, he was able to pay his fines. But he also decided he wanted to work on getting his GED so one of the board members, a retired teacher, offered to tutor him.
“The individuals get attached to the board,” Cardall said, noting that the offenders’ referral to the program has to be approved by the court. “They want to please them. Many of them have never had that in their life – someone who really shows they care.”
San Benito County received awards from the California State Association of Counties in 2009 for the video, and again this year for the Night Reporting program.
The county was recognized in April, during County Government Month, with the CSAC Challenge Award.
“I’m just really honored,” Cardall said. “It’s a great thrill for us. We’ve worked so hard to be really progressive in this county. I love it here and it’s great to work here and be here.”
