LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to amend a contract for legal services for the county's sheriff, who has been under investigation for allegations that he lied during a 2008 shooting investigation – a matter the county's district attorney said has now been concluded.

The 3-2 vote – with Jim Comstock and Rob Brown voting no – approved amending the contract with the Jones and Mayer law firm of Fullerton, with another $2,000 added to it, for a total of $8,500.

The original contract, which had a $6,500 cap, was approved last year, as Lake County News reported.

The action wasn't popular with board members, but County Counsel Anita Grant reminded the supervisors that a judge had ordered the county to provide the outside legal services for Sheriff Frank Rivero.

That decision, handed down last year, was reached after the court determined that Grant could not erect an ethical wall in her department to offer Rivero legal representation.

“This is not an ideal situation,” said Supervisor Anthony Farrington. “We're forced to act.”

Grant said the court made “a very specific ruling” in ordering the county to cover Rivero's legal fees in the deliberations with District Attorney Don Anderson, and she encouraged the board to allow the additional attorney fees in order to be in compliance.

In 2011 Anderson opened an investigation into allegations that Rivero – while working as a sheriff's deputy – had lied to sheriff's office personnel about his actions during a February 2008 incident in which he shot at a man with a can of pepper spray at a Cobb home. The man was uninjured.

Anderson conducted the inquiry under the auspices of the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, which requires the government to disclose to defendants in criminal cases any information that could clear them. That includes information about any credibility issues relating to law enforcement officers who are witnesses in criminal cases.

The Board of Supervisors originally had considered the Jones and Mayer contract amendment at its Feb. 5 meeting, but held the matter over for two weeks so Grant could get an update on the status of Anderson's inquiry.

Grant told the board Tuesday that the matter “should be winding down.” She added that she didn't anticipate another 10 days would pass before there was a final resolution.

In fact, Anderson told Lake County News on Tuesday that he had made his decision.

“It's been done,” he said, explaining that he emailed his decision to Rivero's attorney early that same morning.

Because of the requirements of the Peace Officer's Bill of Rights, Anderson could not disclose his finding.

He said he and Rivero's attorney have a “gentleman's agreement” that for 10 days after the decision is issued none of the facts of the investigation will be released, unless Rivero wants to go public with it.

“That's up to him,” said Anderson.

At the end of that 10 days, Anderson plans to make a public statement on the facts of the case – but not the decision itself – along with offering an explanation of Brady requirements.

Rivero and another local officer – who Anderson could not name – are the only individuals recently considered for placement on the “Brady list,” Anderson said.

Having a negative Brady finding can often end a person's law enforcement career.

When Anderson came into office, he inherited a Brady list of about 12 to 14 individuals who previous district attorneys had decided had credibility issues.

All of those individuals had, by that time, left the law enforcement profession, he said.

Anderson said he wrote his own Brady policy, which drew in part from some established policies at other agencies.

He then went back through his office's Brady list and, based on his policy's guidelines and a lack of evidence, immediately crossed off about half of the former officers who were listed.

Anderson then wrote letters to those who remained on the list, met with some of them, and reduced the number further, down to three or four now, he said.

He believes that, eventually, all of the individuals who were on the original Brady list he inherited will be cleared.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.