A news story in the Los Angeles Times four weeks ago regarding Department overtime issues has triggered a county audit and an internal change on how overtime is tracked by Division Commanders.  

Meanwhile another news organization in the county continues the examination of Department overtime that they began in February.  Overtime expenses were recently reviewed by the Orange County Grand Jury.

The grand jury report was made public last week and on the issue of overtime, there was no adverse finding or recommendation and the Department was not required to respond.  The grand jury conclusion was this:  

Deputy Overtime in the OCSD Jail System

The Grand Jury examined the Sheriff-Coroner Department overtime costs for the last five fiscal years. Although overtime costs have increased during this timeframe, the increases have been proportionate to salary increases averaging 9% of salary and employee benefit costs. The Sherriff-Coroner Department has been under total budget for each of the last five fiscal years.

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson recognized the need for Deputies to work overtime in order to fulfill our obligations. He thanked staff members who volunteer to work it in accordance with Department regulations. During the Santiago Fire and the subsequent flooding, over 1,300 individuals from the Sheriff’s Department worked overtime to protect the public. More...

Sergeant Mike Wallace:

I would like to once again take the opportunity to offer continued praise and recognition for the outstanding job that Deputy [Kimberly] Stansfield performs in my courtroom.  Deputy Stansfield has worked with me in my courtroom for the last three plus years.  During that time, our assignments have varied.

During the past year, we worked in Department N-13 for six months handling the Felony trial calendar of Judge Prickett.  In that assignment, she exhibited professionalism with life sentence inmates, victims and victim’s families, defendant’s family/friends, jurors, attorneys, as well as all the many other tasks required to perform in felony trials.  She not only assisted in making sure things went timely, but more importantly dealt with the increased security concerns and potentially volatile situations that arise in this type of assignment.  Our next assignment was Department N-6 as an open trial courtroom and included Misdemeanor trials, Preliminary Hearings, Civil Harassments/Civil Trials, Felony and Misdemeanor sentencing’s and miscellaneous matters.  Our current assignment is Department N-9 where we handle private attorney pre-trials and back-up preliminary hearings.

Deputy Stansfield is always on time and has consistently demonstrated a very high level of professionalism and courtesy when dealing with me, court staff, attorneys, fellow deputies, prisoners, jurors and the public in the audience.  I find her to be an excellent deputy sheriff and courtroom bailiff and she is a true asset to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can provide you with any further information.

Sincerely,

Lance P. Jensen
Superior Court Judge