Plumas County holds required vacancy hearing, authorizes sheriff to fill patrol commander and cascade promotions

Plumas County supervisors on Aug. 19 held the public hearing required by Assembly Bill 2561 to report vacancy, recruitment and retention data and approved a request from the sheriff to recruit a patrol commander and to fill subsequent promotional vacancies created by that appointment.

The hearing gave county Human Resources Director Sarah James and staff space to outline hiring patterns and problem areas across departments. The report showed 333.651 allocated positions (counted as position-equivalents), 90.095 vacancies as of the data pull and an average years-of-service for filled positions of about 10.7 years. James said the county received 276 applications so far in 2025, with 254 found qualified and 120 hires in the previous fiscal year.

The nut graf: The presentation and board discussion focused on where the county is short-staffed (behavioral health, social services, correctional officers and patrol), what the county has done (hiring bonuses, a 2023 pay increase and a pending comprehensive salary study) and what more it plans to do to speed hiring and retain staff.

In her report James described which bargaining units carry the highest vacancy rates, saying the general unit (which includes many health-and-human-services positions) had a 30.21% vacancy rate and that the sheriff’s department had 14 vacancies from a 62-position complement. She noted the sheriff’s vacancy problem has improved since 2023, when the department had 20 vacancies, and attributed the improvement to a 2023 pay increase and targeted hiring bonuses.

Sheriff Chad Herman told the board that promoting within the department creates cascading vacancies: a promoted detective or sergeant will leave a vacancy that must be filled. He asked supervisors to authorize his office to recruit and fill funded and allocated vacancies that result from a promotion to patrol commander without returning to the board for every downstream appointment, citing operational delays when the department seeks board approval at each step. County counsel and HR stated they had no legal objection; the board voted to approve the request.

Board members and public commenters urged a wider set of recruitment and retention strategies: competitive wages tied to the forthcoming salary study, targeted advertising beyond social media, use of hiring and retention bonuses where budget allows, and local programs to expose high school students to county careers. Several speakers and the sheriff emphasized that retention of experienced employees is as important as new hires because long-tenured staff hold institutional knowledge.

The hearing also covered barriers such as health insurance cost, minimum-wage increases that compress pay scales and difficulties filling specialized roles (licensed therapists, public‑health nurses, social workers). James described active steps: skills-based hiring, targeted outreach, career ladders, flexible schedules, employee recognition, and a county employee down-payment assistance program run through RCRC.

The board closed the public hearing, directed staff to continue implementing recruitment steps and approved the sheriff’s request to recruit and fill the patrol-commander vacancy and any resulting vacancies until all promotional steps were completed.

Ending: Supervisors noted the hearing is required annually before final budget adoption and said they expect more detailed vacancy metrics and follow-up proposals as the salary study and other HR work continue.