To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Sheriff Engram, 565-2650, Connie Newton, 565-8884
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Amend Sheriff’s Office Department Allocation List
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a Resolution amending the Department Allocation List of the Sheriff’s Office, effective January 20, 2026.
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Executive Summary:
The Sheriff is requesting approval of a resolution to add 1.0 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Senior Programmer Analyst and delete a vacant 1.0 FTE Human Services Systems & Programming Analyst to address critical workload in the Sheriff’s Office and to better align allocations with the needs of the Office. The cost difference of the change, just under $20,000, will be paid for with savings from costs paid to outside software and programming providers.
Discussion:
The Sheriff’s Office requests the addition of a Senior Programmer Analyst (SPA) to support the significant and growing technology demands across its public safety operations. Over the past 18 months, the Sheriff’s Human Services Systems & Programming Analyst has eliminated legacy manual reporting systems, repaired critical databases, and developed custom tools used across multiple Sheriff’s Office units. However, the volume and complexity of identified technology projects over the next 5-10 years - including data integrations, application development, security-compliant interfaces, and major system modernization - exceed the capacity and skillset of the current classification. The Technical Services Bureau supports more than 150 software applications, 700 computers, and 73 servers under federal and state security mandates, requiring specialized expertise to maintain reliable 24/7 emergency-response operations.
Adding a SPA will reduce escalating software costs by allowing the department to continue building in-house solutions, rather than purchasing expensive vendor applications. Prior to obtaining a programmer within the Sheriff’s Office, simple data tracking needs required software. Recent in-house development has saved tens of thousands of dollars while producing secure, customized tools such as incident-tracking systems, unit-specific reporting products, and interfaces between systems containing sensitive law enforcement data. If approved, the SPA will work as the primary analyst on various projects and be responsible for designing, writing, modifying, testing, and implementing computer software applications that meet user department's business needs. For example, replacing the Internal Affairs Case Management system is estimated to cost more than $100,000 and require hundreds of staff hours, based on discussions with several vendors and other counties. An independently working SPA can avoid most of this time and expense by performing their outlined job duties. The SPA would also be working with all stakeholders to guarantee that the work being done meets the total needs. Off the shelf software products rarely do not accommodate all stakeholder requirements and typically contain features that are not or cannot be used. The adopting of SPA classification alleviates these issues, thus allowing the Sheriff’s Office to continue to pursue designing and developing timely and cost-effective solutions to Sheriff’s Office problems.
The SPA will also play a critical role in the ongoing jail management system replacement project and the County’s integrated justice system modernization effort, helping accelerate timelines and ensure systems meet statutory and operational requirements. Approval of this position will provide the expertise necessary to sustain safe, compliant, and efficient technology operations that directly support core public safety services.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Organizational Excellence
Goal: Goal 1: Strengthen operational effectiveness, fiscal reliability, and accountability
Objective: Objective 1: Align the Board of Supervisor’s strategic priorities, policy, and operational goals with funding and resources.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
N/A
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY25-26 Adopted |
FY26-27 Projected |
FY27-28 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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General Fund Contingencies |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There is no funding request associated with this change. The addition of 1.0 FTE Senior System Programming Analyst (FY 25-26 SC Labor position cost of $241,299) will be mostly offset by the deletion of 1.0 FTE Human Services Systems & Programming Analyst (FY 25-26 SC Labor position cost of $221,803). The cost difference of, $19,496 will be paid for with savings currently paid to ISD for support of a program that will no longer be needed, the “Shift Log” program (costs totaled $18,400 in FY 24-25). Additional savings will be generated from other ISD supplemental projects, which usually include ISD programming labor costs, as this work will be shifted to the SPA, if approved. ISD has been consulted and supports this item. ISD does not anticipate impacts to their budget based on their current backlog of programming work.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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SENIOR PROGRAMMER ANALYST (0129) |
$10,129.49 - $12,312.27 |
1 |
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HUMAN SERVICES SYSTEMS & PROGRAMMING ANALYST (0173) |
$9,218.11 - $11,204.36 |
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-1 |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The change is expected to have minimal impact on existing staff. The nature of the work better aligns with the SPA job class. By deleting the HSSPA systems programming analyst and adding a SPA, the existing work will shift to a new position. Officewide, this change will benefit most Sheriff’s Office staff as the SPA is implementing a backlog of technical projects that improve workflows and provide in-house technology solutions for a variety of Sheriff’s business needs.
Attachments:
Resolution Amending the Department Allocation List
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
Program Change Request for Senior Programmer Analyst