LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The former undersheriff of San Benito County has been hired to fill the same role in Lake County.
Patrick Turturici, 48, of Hollister will mark his first day on the job on Monday, Sept. 12, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday.
Lake County News’ requests to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to speak with Turturici on Friday were not acknowledged by public information officer Lt. Chris Macedo.
Turturici does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment Friday.
“Patrick Turturici is a highly credentialed law enforcement officer with experience in both corrections and patrol operations,” Sheriff Frank Rivero said in a written statement issued by his office. “I am pleased to bring him on board and have every confidence in his leadership and management abilities. The people of Lake County can rest assured that, as undersheriff, Mr. Turturici will serve our community with the enthusiasm and integrity befitting the office of sheriff.”
Turturici held the undersheriff position from 2005 to 2010 in San Benito County, located south of San Jose, with a population of just over 55,000, according to the US Census Bureau.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from San Jose State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Golden Gate University, according to his biography.
He also is a graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia, and holds multiple basic, intermediate, advanced and management training certificates from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
The Board of Supervisors reestablished the undersheriff position late last year after Rivero’s election. The board voted 3-2 to allow Rivero to appoint his choice outside of the normal recruitment process, as Lake County News has reported. The vote was 3-2, with Jim Comstock and Rob Brown voting no.
Rivero’s original candidate for the post, retired San Jose Police Sgt. Jack Baxter – who also ran for the sheriff’s seat in 2010 – was disqualified from consideration the first week of January, days after Rivero took his oath of office.
Lake County Human Resources Director Kathy Ferguson said the county received nine applications for the position when it was advertised earlier this summer. She said the county’s policy is not to disclose the name of applicants as a matter of privacy.
The oral board for the undersheriff’s selection reportedly included Rivero, his 2010 campaign manager Olga Martin Steele – now a Lake County planning commissioner – and Mary Beth Strong, the sheriff’s office’s finance manager. Ferguson said there are no personnel rules dictating the composition of interview panels at the department level.
Turturici most recently was San Benito County’s undersheriff, a position that county’s Board of Supervisors voted to eliminate last year, according to the Hollister Free Lance.
In that position Turturici managed an $11 million budget which included 105 deputies, correctional officers and civilian staff, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s statement.
Turturici ran in 2010 to succeed retiring San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill in what would become a heated election.
According to his campaign Web site, he received the endorsements of several members of the Hollister City Council, the sheriffs of Santa Clara, Merced and Fresno counties, and a San Benito County supervisor.
During the primary he also had the endorsement of the San Benito County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, but that group withdrew its endorsement before the November general election, citing ethical issues, according to the Hollister Free Lance. Later, the deputy sheriffs’ associations of Monterey and Santa Clara also withdrew their endorsements of him.
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The San Benito County union alleged that Turturici had urged deputies to post anonymous comments on the Hollister Free Lance’s Web site about an opponent in the primary who had received a donation from a convicted felon who later donated to Turturici’s campaign as well.
Sheriff Hill also hired a private investigator to look into allegations that Turturici had harassed sheriff’s office staff as a result of the race, the newspaper reported.
Turturici denied the allegations in San Benito County news reports. No outcome from the private investigator’s inquiry have been released.
Watsonville Police Lt. Darren Thompson went on to win the race by a nearly 15-percent margin, with Turturici resigning from the undersheriff’s position, the Weekend Pinnacle reported.
Turturici’s biography said his law enforcement career began in 1985, which him working his way up through the correctional ranks from correctional officer to correctional sergeant. In 1995 he became the San Benito Jail commander after he was promoted to correctional lieutenant.
During his tenure as jail commander there were no suicides or escapes from the 140-inmate facility, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Turturici became the San Benito Sheriff’s patrol operations lieutenant in 2003, and was named undersheriff two years later.
Turturici and his wife Irene have two children, Dominic and Felicia.
