By Kurtis Alexander
The Fresno Bee
FRESNO, Calif — Longtime probation officer and director Rick Chavez will take over as head of Fresno County’s Probation Department next month when current Chief Probation Officer Linda Penner leaves for a new job in Sacramento.
The 29-year county veteran will head up a 650-person department that is responsible for monitoring and assisting roughly 10,000 newly-released jail and prison inmates.
The department’s mission has gotten increasingly difficult as the state’s much-debated prison realignment has pushed more and more inmates into county hands.
“Whether you support this or don’t is not the issue,” Chavez said, acknowledging that administering the realignment will be the biggest challenge of his new position. “It’s now the reality. We just have to go forth and work collaboratively.”
Penner, who has served as president of Chief Probation Officers of California, worked with the governor’s office to develop and usher in the statewide realignment program. The program was put in place to help relieve prison overcrowding.
Penner’s new job is with Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, helping manage state corrections policies.
Chavez said he will continue on the course that Penner has charted, getting as much oversight and rehab as possible to the increasing number of probationers.
“Really, for the massive obligation we were given (under realignment) and the really short time frame, I think we’ve done a really good job,” Chavez said.
Chavez, 56, currently works as the Probation Department’s division director of administrative services. Before that, he helped plan and open the department’s new juvenile hall complex on American Avenue.
As chief probation officer, Chavez will oversee a department budget of $64 million. The job will pay $130,000 annually. Penner’s departing salary is $128,386.
His first day as the department head is scheduled to be Aug. 5.