Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Workforce Human Resources topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kings County holds AB 2561 public hearing on vacancies; DA office reports staffing improvements but warns of continuing shortages
Summary
County human resources reported an overall vacancy rate of 16% (9.1% excluding held positions) and described recruitment and retention measures; the prosecutors' office described recent turnover, a law-clerk pipeline and ongoing hiring challenges and the board accepted the report.
Kings County hosted a public hearing on Aug. 12 to comply with Assembly Bill 2561, presenting the status of vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts across county departments and focusing on the prosecutors' office staffing challenges.
Human resources director Carolyn Lees and staff laid out countywide data covering the 2024-25 fiscal year period. HR analyst Adrienne Rambunga told the board the county had 1,709.51 authorized FTEs in fiscal year 2024-25 and 1,694.51 in the proposed 2025-26 budget (a reduction of 15 allocations). The raw county vacancy rate was 16 percent; excluding positions that departments are holding for budget, training or re-evaluation reasons, the reported vacancy rate fell to 9.1 percent.
Rambunga said two bargaining groups exceeded 20 percent vacancy when held positions were included; after excluding held positions those groups fell below the 20 percent threshold. She explained that "held" positions include roles that departments are not actively recruiting for because of funding, planned deletion, or upcoming reorganizations.
Human resources reported that, countywide from June 2024 to May 2025, there were 168 recruitments and 197 permanent hires. Average time-to-hire for positions in the general unit was 94 days; the average time-to-hire for prosecutors' office attorney recruitments was 261 days. Rambunga told the board the county has implemented recruitment steps including college partnerships, outreach at militaryinstallation job fairs, a telework policy where operationally feasible and a recently completed classification and compensation study by Kaufman Associates.
Kings County prosecutors addressed the board about attorney recruitment and retention. Prosecutor Christian Park (appearing for the district attorney's office) said the office has made hiring gains after pay increases and other measures but described persistent challenges common across the Central Valley, including competition from offices offering remote work and higher salaries. Park said the DA's office experienced a wave of departures in 2024 and that the countyhas since created law-clerk positions as a pathway to attorney roles. "We had a 100% turnover" from the prior administration in September 2024, Park said; he added the office had hired several lawyers from neighboring Tulare County and was building bench strength.
Public testimony included praise for the county's steps to improve prosecutor pay and recruitment. One speaker, identified as a member of the DA's office, thanked the board and HR staff for supporting raises, telework and other changes that helped stabilize the office. Another community commenter noted a planned training for new law-enforcement officers that the DA's office will present.
After presentations and public comment, the board voted to accept the AB 2561 report as presented. The clerk recorded the motion and the roll call showed the item accepted by the board.
