Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Ass'n v. County of Sacramento

Seeking shelter from the storm, the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (Deputies) brought this action for declaratory relief against the County of Sacramento (County) requesting a declaration that its members “are entitled to be provided with adequate rain gear including, but not limited to, a rain hat, rain boots, rain jacket and rain pants” and “that. . . members who have expended their personal resources for the purpose of purchasing rain gear are entitled to be compensated from the . . . County of Sacramento; . . The lower court overruled the County’s demurrer—which was based on the argument the Deputies failed to exhaust their administrative remedies—and ultimately rendered a judgment declaring “raincoats and rain boots are safety equipment” which the County “has a duty to provide [to] Sheriff’s Deputies” and which “is not contingent upon or limited in [any way] by the amount of money received from the State for [that] purpose . . . .” The county’s appeal renews its procedural and substantive objections. We agree that the Deputies failed to exhaust their administrative remedies and that no exception to the requirement of exhaustion appears. Consequently,…