Michelle Paradise rejoins DA's Office before judicial election

Judicial candidate Michelle Paradise retired from the Riverside County Executive Office June 25, and will return to her former role as assistant district attorney.

"My work with the District Attorney’s Office will focus on special projects and organizational initiatives, allowing me to continue serving the people of Riverside County while sharing the experience I’ve gained over nearly four decades in public service. Public service has always been my calling, and I look forward to continuing to contribute in meaningful ways as I also campaign for Superior Court Judge," Paradise wrote by email.

IELaw.news reached out to Paradise on Friday afternoon, and her schedule did not allow a substantial interview by publication time. An interview is set for Monday.

Paradise spent 25 years as a prosecutor specializing in child abuse and homicides. She was promoted to chief deputy district attorney, and placed in charge of the Major Crimes and Special Prosecution Units, in 2015. Paradise was promoted to assistant district attorney, overseeing the Indio and Blythe offices, in 2016. She was transferred to run the downtown office in 2019. County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen, who worked with her in the DA's office, invited her to join Riverside County Executive Office in 2023, as the Assistant Chief Executive Officer for Public Safety.

Voters will decide whether to elect Paradise or Public Defender Andrea Garcia in 128 days, on Nov. 3.

The appointment

Paradise's return to the DA's office is not done through the typical route. Her retirement from the County Executive Officer grants her a government pension, which prompts a new hiring process.

Government Code section 7522.56 prohibits retirees who receive state pensions from being employed by the same public employer that they retired from. The law gives governments, in this case the Board of Supervisors, the ability to offer exemptions. In those cases, the appointment must be made "either during an emergency to prevent stoppage of public business or because the retired person has skills needed to perform work of limited duration." Appointed retirees can only work up to 960 hours in a year. For workers who retired in the last six months, the appointment cannot be made on the Board of Supervisors' consent calendar. A consent calendar is a list of items that the Board of Supervisors approve without individual discussion.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors granted Paradise an exemption to the law on June 23, two days before her planned retirement.

The role

The DA's request for the Board of Supervisors to grant Paradise an exemption says that Paradise will not supervise employees, conduct evaluations, manage employees, or fill a permanent vacancy.

Her role will be to "provide specialized administrative and operational support, including coordinating with County departments and justice partner agencies regarding administrative and operational initiatives; providing subject matter expertise concerning County policies, procedures, budgeting, procurement, contracting, and organizational processes; assisting with the drafting, review, and implementation of memoranda of understanding, interagency agreements, and other operational documents; conducting research and analysis relating to special assignments and strategic initiatives; providing consultation, training, and transition support relating to administrative operations and policy implementation; and reviewing, revising, and modernizing office policies, protocols, and administrative procedures."

Request to hire ParadiseSnapshot-204472.pdf186 KBdownload-circle

The job posting for the role, submitted to the Board of Supervisors, says that the duties include planning and coordination, developing goals, policies and procedures, supervision of selection, training and professional development, conferring with judges, assisting the Grand Jury, conducting press conferences, prosecution of major or highly complex cases and assisting on budget review. Because she is an at-will employee, she retains the option of leaving the job at any time.

The resolution allowing Paradise's exceptionSnapshot-203925.pdf865 KBdownload-circle

No other candidates for the posting have the same combination of experience, institutional knowledge, prosecutorial leadership or familiarity with Riverside County operations, the request says.

"Michelle Paradise possesses a unique combination of qualifications and institutional knowledge that are not readily available through the normal recruitment process," the request says. "Her institutional knowledge and executive-level experience will allow her to immediately provide specialized assistance and continuity on time-sensitive projects and initiatives without the extensive orientation or transition period that would otherwise be required," the request says.

Paradise's first day will be June 29. She will be paid $154 per hour, through the district attorney's existing budget.

The emergency

The government code requires an emergency to appoint retirees receiving government pensions. In this case, the appointment was necessary "due to the unusual loss of executive-level institutional knowledge and the immediate need for specialized administrative and operational support within the District Attorney's Office," according to the Board of Supervisors' resolution.

"As shared during the June 8, 2026 Budget Hearings, the District Attorney’s Office has experienced an unusual loss of executive-level institutional knowledge and administrative leadership within the last year and requires immediate temporary assistance to maintain continuity of critical administrative and operational initiatives supporting the effective delivery of prosecutorial services," the request to the Board of Supervisors says.

At the budget hearing, District Attorney Michael Hestrin spoke about the retirement of experienced prosecutors.

"Over the past year, we've experienced significant changes, as long-term career prosecutors have retired, collectively taking with them hundreds of years of invaluable prosecutorial experience," Hestrin had said. Some of the recent retirements he highlighted: Deputy District Attorney Bryan Boutwell, Managing Deputy District Attorney Vicki Weiss, Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria, Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral, Chief Deputy District Attorney Vincent Fabrizio, Assistant District Attorney Elaina Bentley and Chief Assistant District Attorney John Aki, who together had a combined 198 years of experience.

Hestrin said the DA's Office was focused on recruiting prosecutors from across the country. The trend is nationwide, and not limited to Riverside County, Hestrin said, citing a 2024 report from Adam Gershowitz of William & Mary Law School called "The Prosecutor Vacancy Crisis."

The Riverside DA's Office has 228 deputy district attorneys entering the 25/26 fiscal year, with the average DDAs since 2013 being 238. "This represents a challenge for our office, and for the community that we serve. These numbers directly impact caseload capacity, which directly impacts service that we can deliver to our community," Hestrin said.

"This moment is a challenge for us, let's be frank, but it also shows a new opportunity for our office," Hestrin said.

The policy calendar

The policy calendar was approved in the vote to approve the consent calendar. During the vote to approve the consent calendar, supervisors pulled items out of the policy calendar before approving it. San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles counties do not have a policy calendar in their agendas. Policy calendars are not mentioned in state law, while consent calendars are.

IELaw.news asked Riverside spokesperson Brooke Federico to explain the distinction between the policy calendar and the consent calendar. She referred to County Counsel, which is preparing a response.

Candidate interviews with Paradise, Garcia and Loflin are at IELaw.news.