SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT SECOND IN COMMAND WILL RETIRE BUT PLANS TO STAY ON PART TIME
San Diego County Undersheriff Michael Barnett has decided to retire but will remain second in command across the department on a part-time basis into next year as Sheriff Bill Gore seeks a successor, the sheriff announced in a social media post.
Barnett, who spent just shy of three decades with the Sheriff ’s Department, will leave Nov. 20 and convert to what’s called a “960” — a retired annuitant who works part-time on an hourly basis for up to 960 hours a year.
“I am happy for Mike and grateful for his 29-plus years of service to this department in four different bureaus,” Gore said in his post. “But I’m also well aware of what a loss of expertise and leadership his retirement will be for the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department.”
Barnett, who did not respond to a request for an interview, began with the department in 1991 and worked his way steadily up the chain of command before being named undersheriff in 2017.
“During his career, Mike has led teams at all levels of this organization which have significantly contributed to making San Diego the safest urban county in the nation,” Gore said in his announcement.
While the sheriff is an elected position, the undersheriff is appointed by the sheriff and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department.
In San Diego County, the Sheriff ’s Department provides law enforcement across more than 4,000 square miles and provides law enforcement in cities that do not operate their own police agencies.
The department, which has a $945 million budget and some 4,400 employees, also runs a network of jails, a crime laboratory and provides security at seven county court facilities.
Gore said as the region continues to meet challenges posed by the pandemic, civil unrest and a particularly contested election season, he will rely on Barnett to remain until a successor is chosen sometime in 2021.
“Every one of these issues has ramifications for San Diego County and this department in particular,” the sheriff wrote. “It is for those reasons I have asked Mike to remain on my team as second in command for the next few months and into next year.”
Barnett’s retirement also comes as the department has faced excessive-force allegations and legal complaints from families of inmates who died in county custody.
Earlier this week, Gore was sued by the family of a woman who died on the floor of her cell at the Las Colinas jail in Santee.
Barnett also was the department official who, along with Gore and then-District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, issued a reprimand and warning to a sheriff ’s captain after he was found selling illegal guns, including from inside the Rancho San Diego substation.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the questionable sales in 2018. Federal investigators opened a criminal investigation and former Capt. Marco Garmo was indicted last November. He pleaded guilty last month and now faces up to five years in prison.
The county made a similar move retaining a highlevel, well-trusted sheriff ’s official in 2016, when then-Undersheriff Ed Prendergast retired.
Prendergast returned as a retired annuitant, meaning he could work up to 960 hours a year and still collect his full pension. The county cited Prendergast’s national security and anti-terrorism expertise.
Barnett was paid just under $270,000 in base salary last year, according to the online database of public salaries maintained by the Transparent California organization.
It was not immediately clear how much money Barnett would be paid as a parttime department leader. Prendergast received $95 per hour under his arrangement with the department in 2016.
The next undersheriff is likely to be selected from the three current assistant sheriffs — Kelly Martinez, Anthony Ray and Frank Clamser.