_{Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Budget Workshop, Aug. 5}

Though it wasn’t part of his original budget request, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told supervisors to be prepared for autopsy costs to increase. 

The pathologist the sheriff’s office had contracted with was forced to go on medical leave suddenly and will likely not be able to return to work, Scott said. As a result, the coroner’s budget will likely “double at least,” he said.

“My point to the Board was that that budget line we’ve had for a number of years — getting an autopsy done for $1,500 per — that ship has sailed,” Scott told Redwood Voice Community News. “That will not be an option any longer, and so I just wanted to make sure they were aware because I’ll have to ask for a bigger allocation to that budget line from the general fund. They weren’t aware of it before because we had no idea this was coming.”

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

An endorsement from two of its members convinced Del Norte County supervisors that partnering with an initiative tied to the California State Association of Counties will be a strategic advantage when pursuing state and federal grant dollars.

The CSAC Grants Initiative and its partners, Washington D.C.-based consulting firm, the Ferguson Group, will provide grant-writing services to Del Norte County as part of its $75,000 contract. It will also help the county figure out how to match its projects with specific grant programs.

It’s an approach District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said she appreciated.

_{Thumbnail photo: Del Norte County District Attorney Katherine Micks discusses her department’s budget with the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5.}

A year after he froze positions to increase salaries, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the vacancy rate in his department has gone from 55% in 2024 to 12.5% currently.

It’s an accomplishment the Board of Supervisors commended Scott for during the second of a two-day budget workshop last week. But, while she also applauded him, District Attorney Katherine Micks said salary increases in the sheriff’s office have made it challenging for her to recruit her own investigators.

“The DA investigator, that’s supposed to be kind of a promotion, right?” Micks said. “In other counties, people want to go from the sheriff’s office to the DA’s office because there’s a bump in pay and here it’s not that way at all. And so I have zero interest from local law enforcement wanting to come over because it’s not a promotion.”