The one-year anniversary of the closure of the Malibu Court lock-up, which resulted when the state courts refused to pay the salaries of two county deputy sheriffs who were assigned there, is upon us. The closure was a scheme by the courts to take the lock-up deputies off the state court books, but leave them on the county Sheriff’s books, saving the state money, but taxpayers zilch.
The impact of the closure, however, was that all defendants arrested by Lost Hills Sheriff’s deputies (Malibu Judicial District) and remained in custody had to be taken to outlying courts to have their cases adjudicated. The impact to the county, which resulted in detectives and deputies having to travel to outlying courts to file criminal cases and appear on matters previously handled in Malibu, was never taken in consideration by Sheriff Baca and the Board of Supervisors at the time of the closure. In the year since the closure, the two lock-up deputies remain at the Malibu court, in different assignments, adding salt to the proverbial taxpayers wound.
To try to determine the cost in overtime, gasoline, wear and tear on vehicles, lost man-hours wasted by deputies stuck in outlying courts, I contacted the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department. I discovered that the county, after nearly a year, has not done an audit to determine the additional cost to taxpayers. As I predicted over a year ago, that the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department would be facing additional overtime and man hours lost has come home to roost. What used to take an hour at the Malibu court, takes half a day and sometimes longer at the Van Nuys court. If there were a local emergency, deputies that could be pulled from the Malibu court would no longer be available.
Join me in demanding that the county conduct an audit of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department to show the monetary loss resulting from the misguided closure of the Malibu lock-up. Once the county is made aware that taxpayer money is being wasted, perhaps the Malibu lock-up will reopen.
Richard C. Herzog
Criminal defense attorney