San Joaquin County prosecutor, sheriff and other officials will get pay raises

Lina PortmanJune 7, 2024

0 2 minutes read

On June 17, some elected officials in San Joaquin County are expected to receive a significant increase in their salaries.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved salary increases for District Attorney Ron Freitas and Sheriff Patrick Withrow, as well as the county assessor-recorder-clerk, auditor-controller and treasurer -tax collector.

Freitas will see his annual salary increase by 5% and Withrow, by almost 2%. The percentage increase for the other three positions ranges from 7% to 13.34%.

The new remuneration for each position is as follows:

District Attorney: $296,825.10 instead of $282,690.46
Sheriff: $267,410.00 from $262,399.02
Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk: $249,423.72 instead of $232,931.92
Auditor-controller: $249,423.72 from $225,722.90
Treasurer-collector: $249,423.72 of $220,062.44

The board's resolution regarding raises also ensures that some elected positions will receive raises around the same time. However, this does not create a process for reviewing their salary.

In the future, the County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk, Auditor-Controller, and Treasurer-Tax Collector will receive equivalent biweekly compensation. The biweekly salary of the prosecutor and the sheriff will be equivalent, but will also include the sheriff's POST certifications, according to the text of the law.

County Human Resources Director Jennifer Goodman said her department was making the recommendations because it found that among California counties similar in size to San Joaquin, six used the same salary scale for the assessor-recorder -county clerk, auditor-controller. , and treasurer-collector.

Three comparable counties have tied the sheriff's base salary and compensation for POST certifications to the prosecutor's base salary, Goodman added.

Before the vote, District 3 Supervisor Tom Patti proposed not making a decision on the prosecutor's salary and bringing it back for discussion and a vote at a future meeting. Patti said he thought it would be appropriate for the county prosecutor and councilor to make the same amount of money. He wanted the board to think about it.

“We have counties across the state, and again north and south, in Stanislaus and Sacramento, that are doing the exact same thing,” Patti said. “I think there’s a good parallel and precedent that we’re establishing that continuity in our region.”

The county councilor is not an elected official, but a county attorney who serves at the pleasure of the board of supervisors. They are hired and fired by the board, while attorneys answer to voters.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Mike Hakeem said he was appearing on behalf of Freitas.

“Mr. Freitas appreciates the pay increase, the staff time and effort put into bringing this matter before you this morning,” Hakeem said. “However, we have noticed that (in) a number of other counties, the district attorney salary is either tied to or adjusted based on the similar county attorney salary schedule.”

Hakeem explained that the reason was that “both positions are reserved for attorneys, and the district attorney position typically supervises many more staff than the county attorney.”

“We have to keep in mind that Mr. Freitas employs 300 people and San Joaquin County ranks in the top 5 percent for violent crime in the state of California,” Hakeem said.

In San Joaquin, the county councilman can receive between $280,477.28 and $340,921.62, depending on where he falls on the salary scale, according to Hilary Crowley, county spokesperson and deputy county administrator. .

Lina Portman

Related Articles

Motorcyclist dead from injuries suffered in northeast Spokane crash identified | Spokane News

The Church must unite to fight human trafficking

Cairo man arrested for methamphetamine trafficking

Man who raped woman with bottle after Galway party jailed for nine years – The Irish Times