Alameda County Names New Probation Chief, Public Defender, Interim Registrar

Bay City News Service—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has appointed LaDonna Harris as the county's permanent chief probation officer and Brendon Woods as public defender.

The board also named Tim Dupuis as the county's interim director of information technology and registrar of voters.

Harris has been interim chief probation officer since March 19, when she succeeded David Muhammad, who was placed on leave in February after an employee accused him of harassing and sexually assaulting her.

Muhammad had headed the department for only a year. Muhammad resigned in June, even though the county's internal investigation found no evidence to support the employee's allegation.

Harris worked for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for nearly 30 years before retiring as a division commander last year. In 2003, she served as an assistant to acting probation chief Wayne Tucker for several months during a prior change in the leadership of the Probation Department.

Woods has been with the Alameda County Public Defender's Office since 1996 and held a number of positions there, most recently senior assistant public defender. He is replacing Diane Bellas, who served as public defender for 12 years.

Dupuis, who will take on his new post on Dec. 17, is succeeding Dave Macdonald, who is retiring. Macdonald has been the county's director of information technology since 1985, and assumed the joint role of Registrar of Voters in 2006.

Dupuis has been the county's chief technology officer since 2000 and in that role he has worked closely with Macdonald while being responsible for the daily operations of the Information Technology Department.

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