Abbate

After two unsuccessful attempts to provide armed correctional officers in the Santa Clara County jail when control of the jail was transferred from the sheriff (Sheriff or Sheriff’s Office) to the newly formed county Department of Correction (Correction), in 1997 the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors retransferred jail functions requiring armed officers to the Sheriff. Correctional officers were transferred to the Sheriff’s Office for assignment as sheriff’s transportation officers, sheriff’s security officers, and deputies of the sheriff to work in the jail. Thereafter, *1234 plaintiff Santa Clara County Correctional Peace Officers’ Association 1 sought declaratory relief to establish that these officers were deputy sheriffs with Penal Code section 830.1, subdivision (a) 2 peace officer status. Plaintiffs also requested a writ of mandate directing defendant County of Santa Clara 3 to provide state-mandated POST training 4 and take whatever steps were needed to regularize the position of these officers. The trial court found that correctional officers were not deputy sheriffs and denied extraordinary relief.

Facts

In 1988, the voters approved a charter amendment…