Who’s in charge at Placer County D.A.’s office? Board still seeking new top prosecutor
Two months after Placer County District Attorney Scott Owens suddenly retired from his post in the middle of his term, the prosecutor chosen to fill in for him while county supervisors select a replacement has been placed on administrative leave.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Jeff Wilson was placed on leave Tuesday, according to an email from county Executive Officer Todd Leopold that was sent to prosecutors and gave no explanation for the move.
Wilson, whose staff was still answering his office phone Tuesday afternoon as “Jeff Wilson’s office,” did not respond to messages seeking comment. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Miszkewycz, who was tapped to fill in for him “in a temporary work-out-of-class assignment,” declined to comment.
“Our office is in receipt of your request for information related to Jeff Wilson’s job status,” Miskewycz wrote in an email Tuesday to The Bee. “It would not be appropriate for me to comment on this matter at this time, but I would instead direct you to contact the Placer County Executive Office.”
Leopold said Wilson remains on the payroll and is one of about a dozen candidates who are scheduled to be interviewed by board members later this month.
“We just kind of felt it was easier to have Jeff step away as we narrow down the pool. ... There are a number of other applicants and what we want to do is keep the playing field even,” Leopold said.
Wilson’s temporary replacement, Miszkewycz, is not a candidate for the job, Leopold said.
The decision by Owens to suddenly vacate his office and recommend Wilson take over permanently has roiled Placer County political circles, with dozens of people writing to the Board of Supervisors alternately urging members to appoint Wilson to the post or warning that he should not get the post.
“If there are things that have been sent to the board, we just felt it was easier to let Jeff focus on stepping away from running the office because we had other candidates in the office,as well as others outside the office,” Leopold said. “I think it was in his interest as well as the interests of the organization.”
Many of the letters were sent directly to Kirk Uhler, then the board chairman, who said through a spokeswoman Tuesday that he would not discuss the status of the District Attorney’s Office.
Some letters praised Wilson and asked the board to appoint him to the remainder of Owens’ term; others were highly critical and cited allegations in the past that the leadership in the District Attorney’s Office has discriminated against women employees, citing a case that led to a $2 million payout in 2018 to former prosecutor Karin Bjork.
Bjork, a 21-year veteran of the office, sued the county alleging gender discrimination in federal court in Sacramento after she was placed on leave in 2013 for an alleged “breach of confidentiality.”
“Owens and Wilson were the decision makers in the discriminatory and retaliatory acts taken against Plaintiff, other women and employees over the age of 40,” Bjork alleged in her complaint. “The County’s District Attorney’s Office has a pattern and practice of treating women and those over 40 years of age disparately.
“Many of the female attorneys have not come forward to complain to the county in fear it would ruin their career and any chance on becoming a Judge.”
The district attorney’s website Friday still listed Owens as the D.A. But county supervisors have been meeting in closed sessions over the past weeks to discuss how to proceed in replacing him, including at a meeting in Lake Tahoe on Tuesday to discuss what the agenda referred to as “interview procedures.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Who’s in charge at Placer County D.A.’s office? Board still seeking new top prosecutor."