Attorneys Seek Deal for Equitable Salary
Ventura County prosecutors and public defenders are in contract negotiations with the county and are debating how to design a salary study that will help determine new pay packages.
The last contract was reached in January 1997 and gave members of the Criminal Justice Attorneys Assn. of Ventura County a 3% pay raise. That deal expired Dec. 31 but will stay in effect until a new one is reached.
“I’m cautiously optimistic about the negotiations,” said union President Maeve Fox, a deputy district attorney. In the current talks, attorneys are asking that their salaries be brought in line with other Southern California counties that have similar demographics, Fox said.
Both sides are debating how to design a study that will compare pay and benefit packages of other counties to those of Ventura County.
For example, a third-year prosecutor in San Diego County makes about $72,000, while the same position in Ventura County pays about $55,000, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Lehr, who is assisting with negotiations.
About 120 of the county’s 140 prosecutors and public defenders are union members. In the past decade, more than 50 attorneys have resigned to take higher-paying jobs in other counties, Lehr said.
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