Formation of Board to Review Actions of Deputies Held Legal

A Superior Court judge rejected Tuesday a request to block the creation of a sheriff’s review board, ruling that the Board of Supervisors had the right to establish the oversight panel, approved by San Diego County voters in 1990.

The president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Assn., a labor group representing 1,400 members of the Sheriff’s Department, had filed a permanent injunction against the creation of the review board.

Attorneys for Randy Dibb, the group’s president, argued that the board should not be permitted to subpoena witnesses, which was included in the charter amendment that the Board of Supervisors approved shortly after the November, 1990, public vote.

But Superior Court Judge Mack Lovett ruled county supervisors have the authority to confer subpoena powers on any advisory board they create.

Taking issue with the court’s ruling, James Gattey, an attorney for the deputies’ union, said there is “no case authority or statutory authority” for Lovett’s opinion.

Only three county agencies are authorized to subpoena witnesses--the Civil Service Commission, the grand jury and the Board of Supervisors. To allow the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board to do the same is not written into law, Gattey said.

As Lovett listened to arguments last month from Gattey and Valerie Tehan, a county attorney, during the first hearing on the matter, the judge indicated that no matter what he ruled, the matter was certain to be appealed.

Gattey promised an appeal Tuesday and predicted that the state Supreme Court will eventually decide the matter. In the meantime, he said, he will advise any member of the department who receives a subpoena to ignore it.

“I think the judge realizes that the issue will be decided by a court of appeal of the Supreme Court,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised by his decision.”

Tehan of the county counsel’s office said she was gratified by the decision.

“The judge said the formation of (review board) was constitutional within the county’s authority and so was its subpoena power,” she said. “And I expect an appeal.”

The review board is authorized to look into allegations against Sheriff’s Department personnel of excessive force, illegal search and seizure, criminal conduct, false arrest, false reporting and other problems.

A little more than a year ago, the deputies union filed a lawsuit alleging that the county failed to “meet and confer” with the union before the supervisors placed the review board measure on the ballot.

Superior Court Judge Wayne Peterson has since ruled that representatives of the Board of Supervisors must meet with attorneys for the deputies before any disciplinary hearings are held.