The San Benito County Board of Supervisors will look into
staffing needs at the District Attorney’s office and the potential
ramifications of filling them after District Attorney John
Sarsfield asked permission to hire a new temporary assistant
district attorney Tuesday.
Hollister – The San Benito County Board of Supervisors will look into staffing needs at the District Attorney’s office and the potential ramifications of filling them after District Attorney John Sarsfield asked permission to hire a new temporary assistant district attorney Tuesday.
Sarsfield asked the board for a $9,000 transfer from the DA’s Community Oriented Policing Services account to hire a part-time, temporary deputy district attorney from March 1 through June 30. As for putting an extra deputy DA on his budget for next year, Sarsfield said, “We’ll worry about next year next year.”
The district attorney told the supervisors Tuesday morning his office gets about 2,500 trial cases a year to split between three deputy district attorneys.
“We’re starting to essentially reach the breaking point on staff,” Sarsfield told the board.
But rather than allow the transfer from the money already in the DA’s COPS account, the supervisors decided to hold off on a decision until their March 22 meeting.
“This (hiring an additional attorney) could, I understand, create a ripple effect on the entire criminal justice system,” Board Chairman Reb Monaco told Sarsfield Tuesday.
Monaco explained Wednesday the hiring of a new attorney could create the need for more judges, more jail space, and so on down the line.
But Sarsfield stressed the possibility of having to let cases go due to lack of staffing.
“In the criminal side of things, we are clogged up, and I don’t think ignoring cases is the solution,” he said.
“He raises a point and rightfully so,” Monaco said Wednesday. “Are we going to let criminals go without punishment because the courts can’t handle it? But there’s always a trade-off.”
Between now and the March 22 meeting, the Board of Supervisors and acting County Administrative Officer Susan Lyons will be investigating the actual staffing needs at the DA’s office and whether it would be worthwhile to fill them and looking for the actual balance of the DA’s COPS fund. Sarsfield said Tuesday the DA’s office receives about $17,000 a year in COPS funding and that account has approximately $72,000 in it, but as of Wednesday Lyons said there was still a discrepancy in the amount of money in the account.
“We’re going to come back to the board with a report on what the balance is, where the funds come from, what is the cause and effect of the DA’s office over the rest of the criminal justice system. We’ll be talking to the sheriff, the judges, the probation officers,” Lyons said.
Sarsfield asked the board Tuesday to go one step further by bringing in officials from counties similar in size to San Benito to see how much larger their DA’s staff was than his own.
“I think the idea of looking at the system as a whole is a good one and I support it,” he said.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at jq*****@fr***********.com.
