Report reveals highest paid on Riverside County government payroll

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The 10 highest paid officials in Riverside County government last year were working almost entirely in public health, according to a report released today by the California State Controller's Office.

The agency on Tuesday published its 2025 Government Compensation in California analysis, showing how taxpayer funds were spent in the previous year, and who was receiving what for being on the public payroll. The data is available at publicpay.ca.gov.

As in 2024, the individual who received the largest income in county government was an unnamed staff psychiatrist for the Riverside University Health System's Department of Behavioral Health. That doctor received a total $608,296, a large part of which may have been related to overtime claims.

Amounts documented by the controller's office include base pay, overtime and lump sum disbursals, which are often tied to banked vacation and sick leave time that went unused, sometimes for years, then cashed out.

The second- and third-highest paid in 2025 were also Behavioral Health psychiatrists, both unnamed, taking home $569,294 and $560,356, respectively.

No. 4 on the list was Director of Behavioral Health Dr. Matthew Chang, who has consistently landed in the top 10 since the beginning of the decade. His composite salary last year was $553,240. Just behind him was another unidentified psychiatrist, whose total earnings were $545,811.

No. 6 was Riverside University Health System-Medical Center CEO Jennifer Cruikshank, whose total comp last year was $517,042, according to the report.

Figures showed next in line was another RUHS psychiatrist, identity not disclosed, who received $508,604,
An unidentified sheriff's master investigator was at No. 8 and the only non-medical classification in the top 10, with a total intake of $501,453, some of which may have been tied to a lump sum payout.

Rounding out the 10 highest paid were unnamed psychiatrists, one assigned to detention health to service the jails, and the other designated broadly as a Behavioral Health specialist, with annual incomes of $496,506 and $489,415, respectively.

County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen was at No. 20 for earnings in 2025, compared to No. 30 in 2024. His total compensation last year was $439,606, according to figures.

The five members of the Board of Supervisors were way down the list for annual comp packages, making less than District Attorney Mike Hestrin, whose earnings totaled $392,002, Sheriff Chad Bianco, at $391,069, or Public Defender Steve Harmon and Chief Counsel Minh Tran, who received $366,407 and
$365,912, respectively. The supervisors were also behind many sheriff's sergeants, deputy district attorneys, deputy public defenders, registered nurses, pharmacists, medical administrators and others.

The supervisors' composite pay ranged from a high of $257,439 to a low of $133,913 in 2025, with Supervisor Jose Medina at the bottom. In keeping with a standard set by his District 1 predecessor, retired Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, Medina has vowed to keep his salary frozen for the duration of his service.

The controller's website indicated that the average pay for a county employee last year was $73,713, compared to $65,739 in 2024. County government is the single largest employer in Riverside County, maintaining more than 26,000 positions. Roughly $2.36 billion in total wages were paid in 2025.