County Disciplinary Procedures for Elected Officials?"*

Published Procedures to Investigate Misconduct: Other than Penal Code section 919c which grants the Grand Jury the authority to inquire into willful or corrupt misconduct by public officers, there are no authorized published procedures by the county or agencies to investigate non-EEO misconduct by an elected official that does not rise to the level of willful or corrupt. Response: The Board of Supervisors, Assessor, Auditor-Controller, County Clerk- Recorder, Public Administrator, Sheriff-Coroner, and Treasurer-Tax Collector disagree wholly with this finding. It is unclear what type of misconduct the Grand Jury means by non-EEO misconduct that does not rise to the level of willful or corrupt. The examples provided by the Grand Jury of possible non-EEO misconduct to be investigated (malfeasance, bribery, theft and fraud) are types of misconduct that rise to the level of willful and corrupt. The County through its Internal Audit Department has generated and implemented written procedures to review such misconduct and other forms of malfeasance. As part of its procedures for reviewing alleged misconduct involving bribery, theft, fraud, and misuse of County resources, the Internal Audit Department has established a Hotline accessible by telephone or through the internet (the telephone number is (714) 834-3608 and the website is http://www.ocgov.com/audit/fraud.asp). Response to the Recommendation(s)