Sacramento County cuts funding for Sheriff's Office during budget hearing

SACRAMENTO, Califs. — Public safety was at the center of budget discussions Wednesday as the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county’s recommended $8.9 billion budget.

With a full chamber, the daylong meeting ended with cuts to Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the addition of a principal criminal attorney for North Sacramento.

Sacramento County’s budget outlines recommendations of how the county should spend its money throughout the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Seventeen percent of the county’s budget is allocated to public safety. The Sheriff’s Office received an annual budget of $2.1 million.

The Sheriff’s Office provided recommendations of what positions and programs to cut Tuesday from Sheriff Jim Cooper, who will seek reelection in 2026. Cooper debated back and forth with Supervisor Phil Serna, who also serves as chair, expressing frustration over their department’s cuts.

The office recommended cutting its Homeless Outreach, which specializes in providing homeless residents mental health resources, access to food and housing. These cuts also included the Problem Oriented Policing Unit which supplies officers in Rancho Cordova neighborhoods to “improve quality of life” and focus on long term safety issues affecting residents in their everyday life, according to the Rancho Cordova Police Department.

The Sheriff’s Office did not want to cut either team, but they had to make way for increased staffing in responding to 911 calls, Cooper said. Sacramento County has 194 fewer officers answering 911 than the agency had 20 years ago.

Additionally, Serna recommended the Sheriff’s Office find different funding sources for these projects and not rely directly on the county. Cooper argued that the Sheriff’s Office financial situation is not a problem he created, but one the county made.

Cooper added that the Sheriff’s Office is facing financial challenges due to the implementation of the Mays Consent Decree, the result of a settlement that found Sacramento County failed to provide humane treatment of its jail inmates. Cooper also brought up the passing of Proposition 36, funding for courthouse staff and a significant vacancy rate among the department. Cooper said Sacramento County has been unable to compete with higher salaries and wages in neighboring counties.

Samantha Beck, a Sacramento County resident and executive director of the Carmichael Improvement District, urged the board to support the Sheriff’s Office. Beck, who was one of 80 residents in public comment, told the board to prioritize the County Sheriff and “don’t set (the community) back.”

“We continue to face significant public safety concerns, retail theft, drug activity, arson, illegal dumping and ongoing challenges are directly impacting us every day,” Beck said “The sheriff’s department play a vital role in addressing these concerns, the hot and pop team have played a significant role in making sure that our community is clean and safe.”

The supervisors ultimately reduced five positions within the youth services unit, taking away $1.4 million from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

North Sacramento prosecutor

Sacramento City Councilmember Roger Dickinson proposed a principal criminal attorney to act as a community prosecutor for North Sacramento during public comment. This new position, which wasn’t in the budget originally, will cost the county $285,852 using one-time funds in the county’s homeless reserve.

“You all know, North Sacramento is an area that has been overlooked and left behind for far too long,” Dickinson said. “We need and we serve and we are bringing to bear the attention of the city’s resources and commitment, and now we want to work very closely in partnership with the county in North Sacramento.”

The position would be in partnership with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and would focus on improving quality of life and crime prevention, said Neil Cybulski, captain of Sacramento Police Department’s North Area.

“We feel that this partnership will address the quality of life issues to raise those for the citizens of that area, North Sacramento, as well as deter some of the crime in the area,” Cybulski said.

Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez opposed the position, insisting her disagreement be made clear “in the record.” She added it’s not the county’s responsibility to fund and implement a job that is within the city of Sacramento’s priorities. In response, Serna, who represents District 1, said the role has a “pretty obvious connection to the adjacent (American River) Parkway.” He told Rodriguez the area is not like Folsom, where she previously served as mayor.

“It’s a community of color that is extremely economically disenfranchised and has had a lack of both political and service attention for decades, not even years,” Serna said.

Rodriguez replied to Serna that she “did not appreciate the comparison to the city of Folsom,” and added that she did not spend her time in a “bubble in Folsom” and knows the area well. She later accepted an offer from Serna to tour the region.

The board also approved $3.4 billion toward Enterprise and Special Revenue Fund, $4 billion in general funds, $1.6 billion within reimbursements from restricted fundings, $1.4 billion in federal, state and free revenue, and $1.6 billion in Restricted Funds, according to a news release from Sacramento County.

The Board of Supervisors will meet next on June 10, when they’ll review funding recommendations for the Transient Occupancy Tax Grant Program.

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