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Board delays Probation Department legal secretary hire, directs staff to pause recruitment until Sept. 1
Summary
The Amador County Board of Supervisors directed Probation Department staff to pause an outside hiring process for a legal secretary position and agreed to revisit the vacancy on Sept. 1, after questions from supervisors about countywide staffing and budget pressures.
The Amador County Board of Supervisors on an unspecified meeting date instructed county staff to delay filling a probation department legal secretary position until Sept. 1 and asked county administrators to monitor broader budget and staffing impacts before authorizing new hires.
The decision followed a presentation by a Probation Department representative who said the department currently has four probation officer vacancies and that one legal secretary is in background checks for promotion to a probation officer. The representative said the legal secretaries perform “a critical function” and asked the board to allow the department to promote an existing county employee to backfill the role rather than recruit externally.
The board raised concerns about the county—s overall fiscal outlook. Several supervisors said they were trying to avoid layoffs next year as the county anticipates higher costs, including an unanticipated increase in workers— compensation. One supervisor summarized the board—s intent as "do the least amount of harm" to current employees while containing the county—s budget exposure.
The Probation Department representative described the hiring timeline and the department—s staffing history, saying, “Right now, I—m operating at staffing levels that haven—t existed in our department since 1999,” and said a normal external hire for a legal secretary would take about 45 to 60 days because of background checks. The representative offered to pause the outside recruitment and instead promote internally if that was the board—s preference.
Supervisors and county staff discussed options including a limited delay of the hiring process to allow the board to track fiscal developments for the new fiscal year. The department proposed starting an outside hire on Oct. 1 if necessary; a board member requested an earlier check-in. The parties agreed to delay further action on the hire until Sept. 1, with the Probation Department to notify the board if circumstances change.
The board recorded the direction to staff; no formal vote was taken on the hiring authorization during the discussion. The matter was relisted on the regular agenda after being pulled from consent for discussion.
