Embattled Santa Clara County sheriff seeks to pull deputies out of 2 courthouses
SAN JOSE – Embattled Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said she wants to remove her deputies from two courthouses in the north and south parts of the county, effectively shutting those courthouses down.
Although courthouse staffing issues have long been a sore spot for the Sheriff's Office, no one was expecting such a sudden move by Smith. Her memo dropped on Friday afternoon before the long Memorial Day weekend.
Smith said in the memo, "Regrettably, the Sheriff's Office will no longer be able to staff the Palo Alto and South County Court facilities, effective June 13th, 2022."
Supervising Public Defender Gary Goodman, who works out of the Palo Alto office, told KPIX 5, "It's like an October surprise. You know it's coming but you drop it right before anybody can react to it."
"This place needs to stay open. We serve the underserved. North County residents deserve a place to get their cases resolved," Goodman went on to say.
Smith was not available for comment, but her office sent a statement to KPIX 5 saying her plan would allow deputies from outlying areas to consolidate and open more courthouses downtown.
The move got a strong rebuke from the county's Presiding Judge Theodore Zayner. He sent a memo to Smith saying, "It's disappointing and surprising to hear on such short notice of your apparent determination to discontinue deputy staffing."
Zayner's memo goes on to say, "we have no current intent to close any courthouses or courtrooms."
Smith, who was indicted by a grand jury for alleged corruption in office, has decided not to run for re-election and will leave the office after 24 years of service.
One county employee said her pending departure could be behind Smith's apparently abrupt actions.
"I figure because of that, she's probably going to go 'poof,' as she walks out the door," the employee said.
