Countywide : Plan to Replace Deputies With Civilians Dropped
Skeptical about any reduction in costs, the Orange County Board of Supervisors Wednesday decided against replacing deputy sheriffs with civilian corrections officers in the county jails.
The board unanimously followed the recommendation of County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish and endorsed a consultant’s findings in 1983 that there is no clear advantage from “wholesale reclassification of deputies to non-sworn positions” in the jail.
Parrish said the county Sheriff-Coroner Department in the past five years has replaced deputies with civilians in as many jobs as possible. He said 36% of the corrections staff in the county jail system now are civilians.
The board in June asked the CAO to determine if jail costs could be reduced by replacing deputies with civilians who would receive less pay and fewer benefits.
The supervisors have authorized the expenditure of millions of dollars to comply with a federal judge’s order that conditions at the main jail in Santa Ana be improved, primarily by reducing the number of inmates there.
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