Humboldt County needs to lay off nearly 50 employees; cuts may include frozen positions, dissolving Alternate Counsel office and providing voluntary furloughs

◼ Since the county can no longer rely on its reserves, the board previously asked department heads to reduce their budgets by 8 percent. The proposed eliminations would save about $3.8 million annually.

According to a staff report, departments identified the need to eliminate funding for 46 full-time positions in order to meet the board's directed deduction.

The positions include one position from the board's office, four from the District Attorney's Child Abuse Services Team, three from the Public Defender's Office, 24 from Sheriff's Office operations, three from the Probation Department, one from the jail, two from the Economic Development Department, two from Alternate Counsel, five from the animal shelter, and one from the library.

◼ Humboldt County urging public to prioritize services for budget cuts; Sheriff's Office to take biggest hit, with layoffs looming.