Orange Co. California: Investigator Will Review Public Guardian

The county will hire an outside investigator to review the embattled Public Administrator/Public Guardian’s Office after accusations of mismanagement in the office responsible for managing $38 million in assets and the lives or deaths of 1,000 people each year.

Assistant county executive officer Rob Richardson confirmed the county is looking into hiring a retired judge or law firm to look into the policies and procedures governing the office, but the decision of who that will be or how much it will cost the county has not been made.

The review will target cases involving estates and conservatorships to make sure they are being handled within the law, said Stephen Dunivent, the deputy county executive officer overseeing the review. Also in the county’s cross hairs are property auction firms hired by the office and the process used to select those firms. The review is expected to be done by early November, Dunivent said.Public Administrator/Public Guardian John S. Williams has hired his own personal attorney, Phil Greer, to represent him as an individual. Greer is not being paid by the county, Richardson confirmed.

The Public Administrator/Public Guardian Office was thrown back into the public spotlight in August after then-assistant district attorney Todd Spitzer, thought to be the heir apparent to the district attorney, was fired after he began looking into allegations that a case was being mishandled by the agency.

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Investigator Will Review Public Guardian