Butte County reports falling turnover and targeted hires in annual AB 2561 workforce hearing

Butte County staff presented the annual public hearing required by AB 2561 on Jan. 13, reporting current vacancy and retention trends and steps the county is taking to recruit and retain staff.

Erin Quinn, assistant director of human resources, told the board that vacancy rates as of Dec. 1, 2025 ranged from about 8% to 32% across county units and that four units—primarily safety-related—exceeded the 20% threshold that triggers additional outreach to recognized employee organizations. Quinn said those units were notified but chose not to request additional information. She listed recent hires that have reduced vacancy pressure: three deputy district attorneys, four correctional deputies and one probation officer, with more deputy DA interviews scheduled.

Quinn described recruitment and retention strategies including multi-year labor contracts with step increases and equity adjustments, hiring and referral bonuses, marketing by safety departments, mentorship and leadership academies in partnership with Butte College, and a retention-focused supervisory academy. She reported the county’s turnover rate declined to 12.74% for 2025, down from nearly 16% in 2024 and over 18% in 2021.

Board members asked about how held vacancies are treated for vacancy-rate calculations and about the budget implications of state and federal funding uncertainties. Quinn said the vacancy-rate calculation counts allocations and vacancies as they exist and that holding positions for budget reasons will affect those rates; budget tradeoffs were described as a separate conversation for administrative and labor negotiations.

The hearing served as an information item; no additional board action was taken on Jan. 13.