Countywide : Top Investigator for D.A. to Retire

The Ventura County district attorney’s top investigator announced Wednesday that he will retire in December to take advantage of a “golden handshake” plan the county is using to cut its payroll.

Braden McKinley, 50, chief of the county prosecutor’s bureau of investigation since 1984, is retiring after 28 years with the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney.

“Wanting to do something else was high on my list, and the early retirement program helped that along,” McKinley said.

McKinley’s job will not be filled for perhaps one year, Dist. Atty. Michael G. Bradbury said, saving about $70,000 in salary and $37,000 in benefits.

Bradbury’s office must eliminate eight to 10 jobs to trim $497,000 from a $12.6-million budget.

To cut its budget by more than $10 million, county government is eliminating 200 jobs. Dozens of veteran employees have chosen to retire prematurely since the county began to pay for such moves early this year.

By retiring early, McKinley will get credit for working two extra years and a retirement annuity worth $73,700, a budget analyst said. But the money saved from McKinley’s pay package will enable the county to break even in 18 months.

McKinley, an actor in television commercials and community theater, said he hopes to take more acting roles and to continue in law enforcement. He said he has applied for police chief jobs in small Northern California towns.

“I want to get into a place where I can put the flag up in the morning and salute it two or three times during the day, and take it down in the evening,” he said. “And where I can take my horse.”