Jon Hopkins, with District Attorney-Elect Don Anderson seated beside him and offering his support, asked the board to allow him to fill a 14th deputy district attorney slot, as his current chief deputy district attorney, Richard Hinchcliff, wants to take that job.
“The request does not involve any additional funding,” Hopkins said.
Hinchcliff, 52, has been with the District Attorney's Office since then-District Attorney Stephen Hedstrom hired him in 1995.
He's known for handling particularly difficult homicide cases, such as the Diedre Coleman and Leah Leister murder cases, which took four and five years, respectively, to prosecute due to their complexity. Hinchcliff won guilty verdicts in both.
Hopkins said when Dan Hurst, one of his deputy district attorneys, left to accept the chief probation officer position, he was not aware that the “at risk” designation would automatically eliminate the position. He said he thought the designation was a way to let department heads know the position was in danger if the county ran short of money.
He asked the board to remove that designation so he could once again fill the job.
“The specific reason for that is so that I can grant the request of my chief deputy to move into a civil service protected position at this time,” said Hopkins.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox told Hopkins that the county doesn't have civil service positions, but they do have represented classifications, which are not at will.
Hopkins said when he hired Hinchcliff as his chief deputy, it was represented that the job was not to be at will, “and now it is.”
By allowing Hinchcliff to take the senior deputy district attorney job instead, Hopkins said, “That would allow the incoming district attorney to make a determination through the promotion or recruitment process who would be the chief deputy.”
He added that it also would mean that Hinchcliff – one of the “most conscientious and committed public servants in Lake County” – would be in a protected position.
Supervisor Denise Rushing asked Cox what happens when at risk positions lose that designation.
“We're still recommending another position be eliminated in the District Attorney's Office,” said Cox.
Cox said that Hinchcliff wasn't at risk, and he was taking a voluntary demotion which will place another employee at risk. “This is a very unusual situation and it's a difficult situation.”
He said he spoke to Anderson regarding the objective of reducing staffing, and that Anderson had expressed his willingness to make a commitment to not fill the department's next vacancy in order to reach the budget goal of reducing ongoing expenditures.
Cox said Anderson had no plans whatsoever to use his authority to terminate Hinchcliff. “It was never even under consideration.”
Anderson stated in a public debate this fall and in a Lake County News interview immediately following the Nov. 2 election that he was looking forward to working with Hinchcliff.
Board Chair Anthony Farrington, noting he wanted to meet everyone's needs, asked Anderson for his input.
Anderson said he supported the proposal. “The last thing I want to do is lose the current chief deputy,” he said, calling Hinchcliff “a great asset.”
He added, “I haven't made a decision who the chief deputy will be. That decision won't be made for some time.”
Anderson said he felt it was nevertheless important to protect Hinchcliff's position with the District Attorney's Office.
Hopkins said if Hinchcliff were to be chosen chief deputy going forward, removing the at risk designation from the 14th position wouldn't create another position, because the funding isn't there.
He added that if the county comes up very short financially the at risk designation wouldn't matter, as cuts would still have to be made.
“That's true,” replied Cox.
If the board approved Hopkins' request, Cox said he was going to refrain from putting the at risk designation on another job. “I don't want to play around with another employee's life,” he said, adding that woman whose job would be next in line for the designation is a great employee.
Hopkins told the board, “I feel that I owe it to my long-term, highly committed employee to go along with his request,” adding that it will be up to Anderson to make the decisions about who will fill which slots.
“I think we understand your motives and intentions and respect and appreciate them,” Farrington said.
Reiterating that he'd not yet settled on a chief deputy candidate, Anderson said the candidate could come from within the department, or from the outside.
Cox said it's his understanding that if the candidate comes from the outside, the next position to open within the District Attorney's Office will be eliminated.
“I feel safe and confident in that agreement,” said Farrington.
The board approved Hopkins' request 5-0.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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