Title
District Attorney’s Office and the Human Resources Department recommending the Board adopt and authorize the Board Chair to sign Resolution 034-2024 amending the current Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution for the District Attorney’s Office to:
1) Add 1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney I-IV - Limited Term allocation; and
2) Add 1.0 FTE Sr. Department Systems Analyst allocation.
FUNDING: General Fund for the Sr. Department Systems Analyst and California Department of Insurance Grant Funds for the Deputy District Attorney - Limited Term position.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The District Attorney’s Office is recommending the Board adopt and authorize the execution of a resolution to add 1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney - Limited Term allocation and 1.0 FTE Sr. Department Systems Analyst allocation.
1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney - Limited Term:
El Dorado County continues to be the cornerstone and lead county agency of the Northern Impact Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force is comprised of the California Department of Insurance (CDI), the Franchise State Tax Board (FTB), and the District Attorney’s Offices of El Dorado County, Nevada County, Yolo County, and Sacramento County. Based on experience, it is evident that the task force model is the best approach to combating high impact cases in the region, which are the primary cost drivers to the state’s insurance system. While maintaining and facilitating this regional approach to the problem of insurance fraud, El Dorado County also continues to address localized fraud more unique to our county. As such, adding a full-time limited term Deputy District Attorney (DDA) to the department’s position allocation would allow the office to foster consistency in investigation and prosecution efforts and to have maximum contact with other agencies ensuring exposure to the best practices in the industry and within the various Task Force agencies. This collaborative effort encourages a continued investment and facilitates the ability of all involved agencies to investigate bigger and more complex fraud cases. It is the intent to assign the DDA solely to the Worker’s Compensation Program, of which salary/benefits cost would be billable to CDI under the grant award.
1.0 FTE Sr. Department Systems Analyst:
Over the past couple of years, the District Attorney’s Office has not only expanded their list of grant-funded program services but have also been subject to new legislation; all areas of which an increase in statistical reporting is required. Adding a Sr. Department Systems Analyst position to the District Attorney’s personnel allocation will allow the office to meet current and upcoming legislation requirements, such as: the implementation of Race Blind Charging (Penal Code 741), the Justice Data Accountability and Transparency Reporting Act (Penal Code 13370), and the Racial Justice Act (AB 2542). This position will act as a specialized staff member dedicated to retrieving and analyzing statistical data, focused on customized Law Enforcement-related software development with the goal of producing accurate, efficient, and reliable data reporting methods. Having a designated position conduct these tasks will result in a beneficial use of general funds than the alternative of attempting to assign other staff to complete required reporting who are already at max-capacity workload. This position will have special skills including the ability to code new software, maintain old software codes, and design/administer databases.
Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office currently participates in approximately 20 outside-funded programs. Many of these programs require routine case reporting data. For the office to maintain accurate reporting, while adhering to the various reporting methods and requests, some case tracking systems will need to be updated and managed as requirements change across grant programs. Having a dedicated position managing grant reporting requirements will result in more accurate data being presented to other agencies.
ALTERNATIVES
Should the Board opt not to adopt and approve the addition of 1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney I-IV - Limited Term and 1.0 FTE Sr. Department Systems Analyst allocations, the District Attorney’s Office will be unable to expand their efforts within the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud Task Force and may have to resort to other inefficient means of producing and conducting statistical analysis, that may lead to errors or becoming non-compliant with newer legislation.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
N/A
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
Human Resources and County Counsel have both provided approval for the position requests.
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Dependent upon the recruitment timeline, the increase in salaries associated with the addition of 1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney - Limited Term and 1.0 FTE Sr. Department Systems Analyst is estimated at $50,188, with an approximate cost of $23,538 to the General Fund, for the remainder of current Fiscal Year 2023/2024; and $310,495 annually for subsequent years. It is anticipated that the cost of the Deputy District Attorney will be offset by the CDI Workers’ Compensation grant award for both the current fiscal year and FY 2024-25. The cost of the Sr. Department Systems Analyst will be funded through General Fund savings for the current fiscal year. Appropriations will be included in the FY 2024-25 recommended budget with an approximate cost of $145,620 to the General Fund and $164,875 to the CDI Workers' Compensation grant.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Upon Board adoption and approval, Clerk of the Board to provide a copy of the executed Resolution to Human Resources.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Safe and Healthy Communities: The District Attorney’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Program results in protecting the community by investigating and prosecuting illegal business operations that impact other businesses and employees.
Strategic Innovation: Increasing staff will improve external and internal data delivery and reporting analysis.
CONTACT
Vern R. Pierson, District Attorney