With one-third of its jobs vacant, Mendocino sheriff chases funds to fix staffing shortages

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE closed its Fort Bragg front counter to walk-in visitors on Wednesday afternoon. The reason: staffing. And the math behind it is simple. Two people run that counter — one full time, one part time — and when one of them takes time off, the office closes, Capt. Quincy Cromer said. It has happened a few times this year, he said. It is not a new schedule or shorter hours.

The closed counter is a small piece of a much bigger problem. About a third of the jobs at the sheriff’s office are empty. Sheriff Matt Kendall has spent the summer trying to line up money to fill some of them — from the county’s own budget, and from a state cannabis-tax grant.