Plumas DA Office Down to One Prosecutor for Entire County in a Matter of Weeks

Plumas County District Attorney’s office is in trouble. By April 29th District Attorney David Hollister will be the last prosecutor left in the county. This comes right at the start of a COVID restriction free summer. The office typically has three attorneys to handle the near 6500 cases it takes to courts on a yearly basis. An open vacancy has been accepting applications since the need arose yet Hollister says due to the county’s low wages, housing shortage, and the aftermath of the Dixie fire recruiting anyone has been near impossible. The solution Hollister says is to work with the Human Resources Department to accept applications from and interview third-year law students, recent law school graduates, and law school graduates, then make an offer of employment as long as they pass the Bar Exam. That’s the long term solution; in the short term time is of the essence. Sheriff Todd Johns at the Board of Supervisors meeting stressed the situation warrants emergency action and supported Hollister’s dire need. Johns reiterating that his office is responsible for the arrest of offenders but it is left to the DA’s office to press charges to keep offenders off the street. The county will have to pay a hefty price tag to borrow deputy Das from other counties to which Plumas would need to cover housing, transportation, as well as reimburse their home counties for the prosecutors’ salaries. With Hollister stretched thin and running the midnight oil to complete cases, the board of supervisors unanimously agreed to proceed with Hollister’s request to work the HR.