O.C. Sheriff Hutchens Announces Retirement Hours After Damaging ACLU Report Released

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Embattled Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced today she will not seek another term and plans to retire.

Her announcement came hours after the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California called for her resignation upon releasing a two-year study that found "violent, abusive and unhealthy conditions in Orange County's jails system, and a record of denial and indifference by the officials in charge, most notably Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens."

According to the ACLU, the 108-page report was the result of more than 120 interviews with current and former inmates in Orange County lockups and a review of the recommendations of seven county grand juries over the last decade.

"The OC Sheriff's Department and its jails have been fraught with controversy, allegations of corruption and abuse. This isn't a recent find," said Esther Lim, director of the ACLU SoCal Jails Project. "It is clear and obvious that the department and the jails need proper oversight."

Hutchens was appointed sheriff by the Board of Supervisors in June of 2010 following the resignation of Sheriff Mike Carona, who was convicted of witness tampering in 2009.

She was praised for righting the ship following the corruption trial of her predecessor. But in recent years, her department has been rocked by allegations that first surfaced in the case of Scott Dekraai, the worst mass killer in the county's history, that her deputies had been running a confidential informant program in the jails that led to violations of some inmates' constitutional rights.

Dekraai's attorney, Scott Sanders, has said Hutchens is expected to be called to testify in a third round of evidentiary hearings in the Dekraai case when they resume after the Fourth of July break. Dekraai is seeking to have the death penalty dismissed against him by Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals, who has recused Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' office from the case and has been critical of Hutchens' past comments regarding the breadth of an informant program.

Hutchens started her law enforcement career with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1976. She worked her way up the ranks to Division Chief for the Office of Homeland Security.

"At the end of my current term, I will have spent almost 40 years in law enforcement and over 10 years as sheriff of Orange County," she said in a statement. "It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as sheriff and I would not even consider retiring if there was not a highly qualified and electable candidate ready to serve."

Hutchens endorsed Undersheriff Don Barnes, who started his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff's Department in 1989, to succeed her.

Barnes "has worked for our department for 29 years and has excelled at every position and assignment," she said. "He possesses the experience and qualities needed to lean an agency with 3,800 sworn and professional staff members and over 800 reserve personnel. I am confident that Don Barnes will work tirelessly and effectively to keep the citizens of Orange County safe in their homes, neighborhoods, schools and places of business."

The ACLU blasted Hutchens and the Board of Supervisors, which it said should establish an independent jails review authority to investigate "the culture of violence and abuse" in Orange County's five jails.

Despite years of complaints about the jail system, the board and the sheriff have "turned a blind eye to this abuse and misconduct," and no deputy has ever been formally charged in an incident of prisoner abuse, according to the civil rights agency, which said its investigation showed that "the need for oversight that is neutral and objective is profound."

The ACLU's report describes "an environment of violence, abuse, inadequate medical care, persistent overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions and poor training and supervision for custody staff, among other violations of state regulations and the U.S. Constitution."

The report notes that in 2016, the county supervisors approved a new three-year contract for deputies that included an 8.8 percent pay raise, at a cost to taxpayers of $62 million.

More than half the inmates in Orange County's jails, on average, are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crime but cannot afford to post bail, according to the ACLU.

• ALSO SEE: Sexual Harassment, Favoritism Widespread In O.C. District Attorney's Office: Grand Jury

--City News Service/Image via OCSD