Prosecutors, residents press board on vacancy, recruitment and public-safety funding as county reports 14.5% vacancy rate

Shasta County officials and dozens of public commenters focused on public-safety staffing and recruiting at the June 9 Board of Supervisors meeting, where county personnel presented a statutorily required report showing 2,083 authorized positions and an overall 14.5% vacancy rate.

The report, delivered by Monica Fugate, director of support services, outlined recent recruitment steps the county has taken and described results from new tools and incentives. “As of that pay period, the County had a total of 2,083 positions, full‑time equivalent positions, and 1,784 of them were filled. This equates to an overall 14.5% vacancy rate,” Fugate said. She described focused hiring steps — including a $15,000 sign‑on bonus for Deputy District Attorney and Deputy Public Defender hires, creation of a law‑clerk extra‑help classification, a reclassification of eligibility worker positions, and expanded outreach through the county’s NeoGov/Attract module.

Why it matters: dozens of residents and county prosecutors told the board that vacancies threaten prosecutions and public safety. Multiple speakers from the District Attorney’s Office said suppressed wages and unfilled posts had left the office unable to sustain current caseloads. “This budget defunds law enforcement, and it does so not with a headline, but with the fine print,” said Nolan Weber, who identified himself as a deputy district attorney. “By cutting critical positions, slashing the DA's budget, the public defender's budget, and suppressing wages below inflation…this is a slow erosion of law and order.”

What the personnel report said Monica Fugate summarized year‑to‑date trends and recent actions: the county’s overall vacancy rate has been trending down from earlier peaks; specialized professions and licensed positions (for example, attorneys and other “professional” classifications) remain harder to fill; and the county has begun using NeoGov’s Attract module to build targeted candidate pools. Fugate gave program details: since February 2025, 28% of job applications have come through the Attract module; the county has received 467 Attract applications and 131 of those applicants were deemed qualified for positions they applied for. She said the typical successful recruitment life cycle is about three months but varies by classification.

Public testimony and prosecutor warnings A string of on‑point public comments came from prosecutors and court staff. Benjamin Rothbaum, a deputy district attorney, warned that underfunding prosecutors produces real consequences: “When we don't adequately fund prosecutor's offices, I think we can see what happens in LA,” he said, citing national news examples of crime surges in jurisdictions with weakened prosecutorial capacity. David Belanti, also with the District Attorney’s Office, explained the administrative workload that accompanies each filed case — subpoenas, discovery, motion practice — and said reduced staffing would mean “the only option we have would be to prosecute fewer cases.”

Several speakers urged the board to identify funding within the upcoming budget to shore up prosecutor pay and to fill vacancies. “Every year for the past three years $40 million to $50 million returns to the general fund,” said Theodore Workman, a prosecutor. “If this board is looking for money being left on the table to fund other priorities, I would ask it to look at past years… This board has the resources.”

County responses and next steps Supervisors and staff acknowledged the concerns. Fugate described concrete recruitment and retention efforts already under way — sign‑on bonuses for prosecutor and corrections positions, targeted outreach at job fairs, and internal reclassifications to reflect current duties — and said county staff plan additional steps including a countywide referral reward program and streamlined eligible‑list practices.

On board direction, supervisors voted 5‑0 to require that the county’s Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) and Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) bring their annual reports to the Board for public presentation after committee review and approval. Chief Probation Officer Tracy Neal — who chairs both groups — agreed the requirement is workable and said the committees already prepare annual reports that can be tailored for a board presentation.

Ending note The meeting’s length public‑comment period kept staffing and public safety at the center of the day’s discussion. County personnel said they will continue to refine recruitment metrics and return with data; prosecutors and other public‑safety employees told the board they will remain publicly engaged during the budget hearings the board scheduled to begin the following day.