From Daily Republic. 

SOLANO COUNTY, CA | April 30, 2024 -  Six months after being appointed interim probation chief, Dean Farrah is officially the boss.

The Solano County administration on Monday afternoon announced Farrah’s appointment by the Solano County Superior Court to chief probation officer….

“The judges of the Solano County Superior Court are unanimous in their belief that Dean Farrah is extraordinarily well-qualified to serve as our next Chief Probation Officer,” Presiding Judge Alicia Jones said in a statement released by the county administration.

“He has worked as a probation professional for nearly three decades, and we look forward to his leadership in working with the court, the county, and the community in coordinating services and programs for adult and juvenile offenders to encourage rehabilitation and reduce recidivism,” 

Farrah will provide leadership, direction and oversight to a department of 228 employees, the administration of a $55 million annual operating budget and assume responsibility for all juvenile and institutional operations, including field and court programming, the statement said. He also will serve as chairman of the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council and the Community Corrections Partnership, and as a member of the Solano County Law Enforcement Administrators Association. 

Farrah was hired by Solano County in 2016 to serve as the superintendent and division chief of the Probation Department’s Juvenile Detention Facility.  He was promoted to chief deputy probation officer in 2021. Farrah was appointed in October as the interim chief probation officer when Christopher Hansen retired. 

He started his career in public service in 1995 as a juvenile detention officer with Madera County Probation. Farrah joined the Santa Barbara County Probation Department in 1997 as a supervising juvenile institutions officer. 

Farrah holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Antioch University in Santa Barbara. He is a member of the California Association of Probation Service Administrators, the California Probation, Parole and correctional Association, the National Partnership for Juvenile Services, the Solano County Law Enforcement Commanders, the Chief Probation Officers of California and the Solano County Law Enforcement Administrators Association. 

He has graduated from several probation training courses and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the California Association of Probation Institutions Administrators Supervisor of the Year Award, for the Southern Region, in 2003. 

…

The chief probation officer also serves as a member of the Solano County government executive management team.

Read the full article here.