Santa Barbara Taking Baby Steps Toward Solving Sheriff’s Office Overtime Crisis

Glimmers of hope for reducing overtime costs at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, a chronic problem that has ballooned into the county’s biggest budget controversy, were offered Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

Management analyst Nicole Parmelee presented the county’s official response to a recent Grand Jury report that faulted the Sheriff’s Office for regularly exceeding its overtime allowance. This year, the department is projected to spend about $19 million on overtime ― roughly $9 million more than projected ― and, as a whole, now consumes approximately 33 percent of the county’s General Fund, compared with 24 percent just two years prior.

Parmelee highlighted a new labor agreement between the county and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association union that is expected to help curb costs. The new contract, she explained, changes the calculus so that paid sick leave and comp time can no longer count as overtime hours. It also caps individual employees at 1,300 overtime hours per year; limits annual comp-time accrual to 120 hours; requires period cash-outs of comp-time balances; and clarifies when employees can bill for drive time. 

Parmelee said the county agreed with the Grand Jury that its outdated payroll system makes it difficult to track and analyze overtime. A new system, called Workday, is expected to go online by spring 2027. In the meantime, Parmelee said, the Sheriff’s Office is encouraged to better categorize the reasons its employees work extra hours.

Another major issue discussed Tuesday was the expense of operating two county jails. Parmelee said the county concurred with the Grand Jury that running both facilities exacerbates staffing costs. Officials are now developing a plan to consolidate jail operations and decommission South County’s Main Jail, with a proposal expected to reach supervisors this December.

How the proposed consolidation plays out, and whether it actually saves the county money, remains an open question. Jail populations have declined in recent years as costs continue to climb, the Grand Jury noted ― inmate numbers fell from 1,010 in 2013 to 750 in 2025 while Sheriff’s Office spending still went up.

Not mentioned during the meeting, but which gives the issue yet another dimension, was the recent arrests of two custody sergeants for alleged timecard fraud. One was accused of falsely claiming more than $175,000 in earnings for shifts he did not work. The other was similarly charged with stealing $93,000 in overtime pay. The Sheriff’s Office said it subsequently strengthened its internal reviews and oversight of timecards.

Separately, a recent audit of the department showed that the Sheriff’s Office’s top overtime earner received $170,000 in overtime on top of his $103,000 base salary, with 29 more employees also receiving more in overtime than their base pay. In one extreme example, a custody employee worked 2,298 extra hours in a single year, taking home an additional $130,000.

In his own remarks to the supervisors, Sheriff Bill Brown said he was pleased that progress was being made to rein in the overtime. He said his department had enacted “extreme measures” to curb costs and continues to implement stricter oversight. “It’s gotten quite draconian compared to what it’s been in the past,” he said. 

But, Brown cautioned, “This isn’t a solved problem.” The department will continue exceeding its overtime budget for the foreseeable future. “We all need to be aware of that,” he said. Brown argued that a certain amount of overtime is unavoidable because the county must maintain minimum staffing levels for jail and patrol operations. He also made the counterintuitive point that overtime can sometimes be cheaper than hiring additional full-time employees, because salaries plus benefits can exceed the cost of filling staffing gaps through overtime.

At the same time, Brown acknowledged concerns about employees working extremely long hours and the potential for staff burnout. The central challenge, he said, is weighing fiscal responsibility, adequate staffing, and employee workload. “It’s all about balance,” he said, “like everything in life, I suppose.”

An upcoming audit of the department, more expansive than the last, will examine whether overtime is being accurately recorded, properly approved, supported by a legitimate need, and correctly paid, Parmelee told the supervisors.