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Amend the District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classification specifications
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HUMAN RESOURCES' RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Human Resources recommends the Civil Service Commission modify the District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classification specifications.
SUMMARY:
The Department of Human Resources recommends the Civil Service Commission modify the District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classification specifications. The primary changes to the classification specifications include changes to the education portion of the minimum qualifications and California Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) certificate level. Minor changes have been made to convert the classification specifications to the current format.
DISCUSSION:
The District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classifications are represented by the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA). There are ten (10) allocations of District Attorney Investigator and two (2) District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) in the District Attorney’s Office. These classifications are not allocated to any other departments in the County.
The District Attorney Investigator is a journey-level classification in which incumbents perform skilled investigation work performed in support of the criminal prosecution activities of the District Attorney's Office. Currently, the education minimum qualification requires, “thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units of academic course work in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Law Enforcement, Police Science, or related field which addresses prevention, discovery, control, and treatment of crimes, criminals, and criminality from an accredited college or university.” The related field requirement was too restrictive as it did not allow for other applicable courses that are also relevant to the field of study for this job class. While the classification specification will continue to include “related field”, those related fields will include classes like psychology, sociology, juvenile justice, corrections, victimology, court systems, statistical research, forensics, and ethics. Removing the restrictive criteria and expanding the related field courses will allow more qualified candidates to move forward in the selection process. The revised classification specification also allows candidates to substitute education units with an Advanced P.O.S.T certificate which requires a minimum of 30 education units. Lastly, the updated classification now requires an Intermediate P.O.S.T. certificate instead of a Basic certificate. This change ensures that candidates have sufficient prior work experience before transitioning to criminal investigations.
The District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) is a supervisory classification in which incumbents supervise and participate in criminal and/or civil law investigation activities of one or more investigation units in the District Attorney's Office. The same education changes were made to the supervisory level in addition to reducing the number of education requirements from forty-five (45) semester units to thirty (30) semester units and sixty (60) quarter units to forty-five (45) quarter units. No additional education is necessary to promote from the journey level to the supervisory level. An incumbent will be able to promote to the supervisory level after gaining additional years of experience conducting investigations, including gathering and evaluating evidence for use in criminal and civil prosecutions in a California District Attorney’s Office.
Attached are copies of the “add/delete” version of the District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classification specifications showing the amended text as well as copies of the final versions.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Civil Service Commission could elect not to approve the proposed classification specification modifications; however, this is not recommended as the revised District Attorney Investigator and District Attorney Investigator (Supervising) classification will broaden the applicant pool to increase the number of qualified candidates for the County’s recruitment of these positions.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Human Resources staff worked with staff from the District Attorney’s Office on the modification of the classification specification. On April 21, 2026, the County notified the DSA of the proposed changes and provided the proposed classification specification revisions. The DSA responded that they do not take issue with the proposed changes and declined to meet and confer. Therefore, the County has met its obligation to meet and confer over the revised classification specifications.