County officials: Attorneys return to work following absence
UPDATE (Wednesday, 12:39 P.M.)
The Imperial County Board of Supervisors confirmed that the Deputy District Attorneys returned to work Wednesday following their absence the previous day.
“I am pleased to report that all of the District Attorney’s employees who missed work yesterday have returned. The Board is committed to continue bargaining with the unit’s association in good faith while balancing the needs of all employees,” said Ryan E. Kelley, Chairman of the Board and District 4 Supervisor.
ORIGINAL STORY
Imperial County Board of Supervisors said 15 local deputy district attorneys called in sick on Tuesday morning. The county called it an unacceptable organized no-show.
County Supervisor Ryan Kelley said, “[The attorneys] failed to report to work today in regards to a sick call. The entire office, except for the district attorney and the assistant district attorney was not present. We view this as an action taken by the employees for a bargaining tactic. It puts public safety and public trust in jeopardy.”
The county and Deputy District Attorney Association have had ongoing labor negotiations for the past 8 months.
Kelley said the attorneys are compensated for their work quite well, but D.A. Assistant Deborah D. Owen disagrees with that.
“I went before the board in December of 2018, and told them that our staffing situation, because of the exodus of attorneys due to the low salaries, was at a crisis point. We’ve had about eight to nine attorneys leave within the last year,” Owen said.
She said another attorney is leaving this week. They’ll be down to 14 attorneys.
“Offering 2.02% to attorneys who are paid anywhere between $20,000 to $60,000 less than counterparts throughout the state of California is not meaningful,” Owen said.
The D.A. said the Criminal Justice Standards recommends number of attorney case loads.
“No more than 150 felony cases a year, or 400 misdemeanor cases a year,” Owen said.
Owen said local attorneys handle between 1,200 to 1,600 cases per year.
A member of the Public Defender Office who didn’t want to be named said this situation, if it continued, could lead to criminal cases being dismissed for lack of attorneys.
“We are still determining what the impact of one day is and what the next day will be,” Kelley said.
The county has ordered attorneys back to work the next day.
“That will be impossible for the person that has been documented to be sick,” Owen said.
