County Leaders Declare D.A. Lawsuit ‘Moot’

Outgoing Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco got some of what he wanted from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday.

Supervisors agreed to give his office eight short-term positions he had requested among dozens of others after he lost his re-election bid in June.

County counsel Pamela Walls said the workers would be probationary and not permanent, and cited they come at a time when the county is financially strapped.

The two sides failed to come to any agreement on Pacheco’s lawsuit he filed on Dec. 10 against the Board of Supervisors and other county leaders over their refusal to allow the hiring of the workers.

Pacheco claims the county is playing politics with the executive office catering to incoming District Attorney Paul Zellerbach, who takes office Jan. 3.

As for the lawsuit, District Attorney’s Office spokesman Michael Jeandron said the county’s top prosecutor and his staff would need time to review the county’s proposal “and decide how best to move forward.”