REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 14, 2023
FROM
THOMAS W. SONE, Public Defender
SUBJECT
Title
Employment Contracts for Public Defender Second Chance Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Employment Contract with Evelyn O. Uba as Deputy Public Defender I, for the estimated annual cost of $97,930 ($85,320 Salary, $12,610 Benefits) for the period of March 25, 2023 through March 1, 2025.
2. Terminate Employment Contract No. 22-732 and approve a new Employment Contract with Teresa Verduzco-Villa as Paralegal, for the estimated annual cost of $78,312 ($68,796 Salary, $9,516 Benefits) for the period of March 25, 2023 through March 1, 2025.
3. Approve Amendment No. 1 to Employment Contract No. 22-734 with Francisco J. Robles, Office Assistant III, adding contract language to include Bilingual Compensation, for the estimated annual cost of $66,632 ($45,895 Salary, $20,737 Benefits), with no change to the contract term of August 13, 2022 through August 12, 2024.
4. Approve Amendment No. 1 to Employment Contract No. 22-1018 with Lisbeth Cortes, Paralegal, adding contract language to include Bilingual Compensation, for the estimated annual cost of $97,455 ($70,328 Salary, $27,127 Benefits), with no change to the contract term of November 19, 2022 through November 18, 2024.
(Presenter: Thomas W. Sone, Public Defender, 382-3950)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item will not result in the additional use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The estimated annual cost of the employment contracts is $340,329, which will be funded by the Public Defense Pilot Program Grant (Grant). The Grant, established by the State of California Budget Act of 2021, allocated $2,633,006 to San Bernardino County for indigent defense services related to legislative criminal resentencing and parole reform initiatives for the period of March 1, 2022 through March 1, 2025. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Public Defender (Department) 2022-23 budget (491-2753) and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Each contract position will support the Department’s Second Chance Program (Program), developed to pursue criminal sentencing and parole reforms, as well as conviction relief. The positions will perform various duties, including: researching and presenting evidence of relevant mitigation at resentencing hearings; preparing and submitting comprehensive mitigation packets for resentencing requests; identifying clients entitled to resentencing and pursue the resentencing process for each eligible client; preparing clients for youthful offender parole hearings; preparing and submitting Franklin mitigation to the court or the Board of Parole Hearings; and screening immigration referrals for potential Penal Code section 1473.7 relief and related litigation efforts.
The Deputy Public Defender position will perform a variety of criminal defense litigation, including jury trials; prepare and defend cases before any court within the state; conduct legal research and prepare legal documents; zealously and competently represent each client; establish and maintain effective working relationships with prosecutors, judicial officers, court staff and other members of the criminal justice system; annotate files accurately; and recognize relevant issues.
The Paralegal positions will provide assistance to attorneys with case research, hearing preparation, and witness coordination; review, summarize and organize case files, legal documents, depositions and exhibits; analyze facts, issues, elements, statutes, court decisions, legal documents and pleadings; prepare and file various legal documents; provide bilingual translation involving the use of English and Spanish; and may lead a clerical team to advance client resentencing efforts.
The Office Assistant III position performs clerical functions for the Program including: completing conflict checks and client and involved party research; filing legal documents; managing client files; preparing court calendars; completing case-related data entry, posting annotations and compiling statistical data; transcribing video and audio recordings; providing bilingual translation involving the use of English and Spanish; and other miscellaneous clerical duties.
The contract amendments are requested to adequately compensate the contractors, in accordance with County standards of evaluation, as they perform bilingual translation as part of their regular duties.
Either party may terminate the contract at any time without cause with 14 days prior written notice to the other party. The County may terminate the contract immediately for just cause. In the event the grant funding is not extended or ends, the Department will terminate the contracts.
On January 11, 2022 (Item No. 24), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved and authorized the submission of a grant application to the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) in the amount of $2,633,006 for the Program in support of State Legislature initiatives related to resentencing and parole reform for indigent clients.
On February 11, 2022, the Department received notice of the award from BSCC in the amount of $2,633,006 for the period of March 1, 2022 through March 2025. On April 12, 2022 (Item No. 27), the Board approved Grant Agreement No. 22-260 with BSCC in the amount of $2,633,006 to fund the Program.
On August 9, 2022 (Item No. 31), the Board approved four employment contracts (one Mitigation Specialist and three Office Assistant III positions), including Employment Contract No. 22-732 with Ms. Veduzco-Villa for the position of Office Assistant III, to support the Program.
On September 27, 2022 (Item No. 39), the Board approved two employment contracts (one Paralegal position and one Deputy Public Defender IV) to support the Program.
On October 25, 2022 (Item No. 54), the Board approved two employment contracts (two Paralegal positions) to support the Program.
On December 5, 2022, following approval by the County Executive Officer on December 2, 2022, the Department submitted Grant Application - Year Two to BSCC in the amount of $2,603,224 for the Program. If awarded Year Two grant funds, the Department will return to the Board for approval to accept the award.
On January 17, 2023, the Department received notice that while the 2023-24 Proposed State Budget eliminated funding for Year Three of the grant, funds allocated for Year One and Year Two could be used through the original grant period ending March 1, 2025. Due to ongoing challenges with recruiting qualified staff, the Department expects to utilize Year One and Year Two grant funds for the full grant period.
PROCUREMENT
The Department continuously recruits for open contract positions and interviews qualified candidates to assess their work experience and skills set. The recommended contractors were interviewed and selected to fill the positions due to documented work experience and verified qualifications. The Deputy Public Defender candidate is licensed by the State Bar of California and has several years of experience working with indigent clients. The Paralegal candidate has obtained the education and legal work experience required to meet the American Bar Association guidelines.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Human Resources (Gina King, Deputy Director, 387-5571) on February 21, 2023; County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 21, 2023; Finance (Kathleen Gonzalez, Administrative Analyst, 387-5412) on February 28, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on February 28, 2023.