Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Probation chief warns staffing shortages and rising detention costs will squeeze county budget
Summary
Chief Raymond told the Board of Supervisors the probation department’s proposed 2025–26 budget responds to rising detention contract costs, state funding changes and persistent vacancies; supervisors and union representatives flagged a 33% departmentwide vacancy rate and urged recruitment and retention action.
Chief Raymond, Del Norte County probation chief, told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 1 that the department’s proposed 2025–26 budget reflects rising contract costs for out‑of‑county detention, changes to state funding and persistent vacancies that limit service delivery.
"It's our people that do the work," Raymond said, summarizing why most of the department’s budget is for salaries and benefits. He told supervisors the department is operating with about a 33% vacancy rate overall and that several teams — Adult Services Unit (ASU), Juvenile Services Unit (JSU) and Support Services — are more than 40% vacant in places. Raymond said one juvenile probation officer had submitted a resignation, and he expected recruitment activity to continue.
The department presented two main budget units: 244 (probation services, adult and juvenile supervision and support) and 243 (youth opportunity center and detention services). Raymond said juvenile…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
