LAKE COUNTY — Lake County Sheriff-Coroner Francisco Rivero announced Friday afternoon that Jack Baxter is no longer a candidate for the newly created undersheriff position.
“It is with regret that I announce that Jack Baxter has been disqualified in the course of the hiring process and will not be appointed as Undersheriff,” Rivero said in a statement.
Rivero said in a phone interview that he could not discuss the specifics of Baxter”s disqualification, adding that the one-sentence statement was “as much information as I can give without violating his confidentiality.”
Baxter was contacted Friday afternoon by the Record-Bee and issued the following statement: “I had discussed this with Sheriff Rivero at 10 last night (Thursday). Since then I have not talked to him. I was in the process of putting together a rebuttal. I am disappointed and I intend to send him my rebuttal. I had no idea that he made a final decision. He had not contacted me.”
The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted 3-2 on Dec. 14 to exempt the appointment of an undersheriff from the county”s traditional recruitment process, doing so after Rivero repeatedly said Baxter was the man he planned to appoint.
“I believe I have found the best candidate available,” Rivero said of Baxter on Dec. 14.
Rivero told the BOS on Dec. 14 that the undersheriff would be the second-highest ranked position under the proposed Lake County Sheriff”s Office reorganization structure and would operate as sheriff when the elected sheriff is otherwise unavailable.
The undersheriff position remains exempt from the county”s formal recruitment process, meaning the sheriff can appoint any candidate who “meets the minimum qualifications” described in the BOS-approved position description, County Administrator Kelly Cox said.
