Sheriff Frank Rivero issued a one-sentence statement that said, “It is with regret that I announce that Jack Baxter has been disqualified in the course of the hiring process and will not be appointed as undersheriff.”
When contacted by Lake County News on Friday evening and asked for comment, Baxter replied, “No, I don't think I'll make any comments at his time but I will in the future. Right now I'm giving it some thought.”
Rivero told Lake County News Friday afternoon that nobody else was lined up for the job.
“Any further consideration will be through recruitment,” said Rivero.
Baxter, 66, of Lakeport is a retired San Jose Police sergeant who retired in 2003 with 38 years of law enforcement experience and three years in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era.
He threw his hat into the Lake County sheriff's race a year ago, coming in third in the June 8 primary with 27.2 percent of the vote, according to the Lake County Registrar of Voters.
Over the summer both Rivero and former Sheriff Rod Mitchell approached Baxter for his support, with Baxter eventually endorsing Rivero.
In turn, Rivero had declared before the general election in November that he favored reestablishing the undersheriff position and hiring Baxter to fill it.
In keeping with his statements, on Dec. 14 Rivero went before the Board of Supervisors to ask to reestablish the undersheriff position.
At that time he also sought support from the board for appointing his selection rather than having to go through a recruitment process, which would clear the way for Baxter's appointment.
Rivero told the Board that Baxter would advocate for the county's residents. “If I didn't trust him I wouldn't be here proposing this to you,” he said.
He also stated during the Dec. 14 board discussion that, in Baxter, “I believe I have found the best candidate available.”
Part of Rivero's request before the board last month was predicated on what he said was the need to act fast. “The department is ill. It needs attention. It's sitting on life support.”
The board voted unanimously to reestablish the undersheriff position, but voted 3-2 – with Supervisors Jim Comstock and Rob Brown voting no – regarding appointment rather than recruitment.
Comstock and Brown had stated that they felt the recruitment process would be beneficial to choosing a good candidate, while board members Anthony Farrington, Denise Rushing and Jeff Smith supported giving Rivero his choice in a second-in-command.
Lake County News tried unsuccessfully to reach board members Comstock and Farrington late Friday.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said he had received a call from Rivero Friday afternoon, with Rivero wanting to give him a heads up about the situation.
“I'm sure Sheriff Rivero has good reason for his decision, and I support him,” said Brown.
As he had earlier suggested, Brown said Friday he felt Rivero could get a good candidate in the recruitment process.
The process for hiring in which Baxter was disqualified was not immediately clear on Friday, although in past interviews with Mitchell he indicated that the sheriff's office conducts background investigations on candidates before hiring. Those backgrounds include an in-depth look into past employment and finances.
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training's (POST) Web site reports that peace officers undergo “an extensive selection process” before being hired.
POST is given statutory authority in the state penal code to establish minimum selection standards for peace officers.
Those minimum standards require that candidates be fingerprinted, not have any felony convictions, that they are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age, are of good moral character, are high school graduates and found to be free of “any physical, emotional, or mental condition which might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer.”
Based on the penal code, departments like the Lake County Sheriff's Office may also set standards that exceed those minimums, according to POST.
Those additional standards can include polygraph examination or voice stress analysis, drug screening, physical testing and more, POST reported.
At the end of his first week in office, Rivero couldn't give further details about the process to select his second in command, noting that there are many other issues now competing for his attention as Lake County's top cop.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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