The legal system is a lengthy process and there are some instances when a sworn Office of the Sheriff employee, who was originally involved in the criminal case, no longer works for the department when the criminal case is scheduled for the court trial. To assist with the successful prosecution of the case, the Office of the Sheriff is requesting the ability to pay a former sworn employee for a court appearance by establishing an internal policy wherein a procedure is created to compensate former employees for their time and travel expenditures related to their appearance in court.   
  
The Office of the Sheriff's parameters for authorizing and approving the reimbursement would include:   
*Former employee has proof of Subpoena;  
*Employee left by resignation, retirement or other means;  
*Former employee would receive hourly compensation at the former pay rate step prior to separation;  
*Former employee would be compensated for a minimum of three (3) hours of straight time;  
  
Expense reimbursement for travel, lodging, and daily per diem rates will be in compliance with the Contra Costa County Administrative Bulletin No.111.9 "Travel." Number of lodging days and per diem reimbursement approval will be in conjunction with the length of court testimony time required by the Presiding Judge of the court trail. All estimated travel and per diem expenses subject to reimbursement must be approved by the Office of the Sheriff prior to incurring expenditures. The Office of the Sheriff has final authority for approving actual expenditure reimbursements and will submit payment demand to the Auditor-Controller's Office for payment processing. Maximum reimbursement shall not exceed $5,000 per individual per hearing appearance.  

Former employees of the Office of the Sheriff will not be compensated for their time and reimbursed for travel and per diem expenditures incurred due to a subpoena to appear in court.

Subpoena may be related to a case involving a minor within Contra Costa County.