Santa Clara County Departments Face The Budget Axe

SANTA CLARA COUNTY (KCBS) – Dozens of sheriff's deputies' jobs could be on the line as Santa Clara County officials try to close a more than $200 million budget gap.

From deputies on the street to deputies in jails, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said they may have to lay off as many as 100 people to bridge the county's budget deficit.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

The department's portion of the deficit is $21 million and Smith said they are looking at cutting everything from staff to mops.

"It's part of our budget proposal that we will decrease the number of mops for the jails that we're buying," Smith said. "That's how detailed we're being."

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's Office is also trying to cut costs by streamlining some court operations. DA Jeff Rosen said a key example is using video conferencing.

"One of the ways in which we're looking to save money is by having video arraignments, where the inmates remain at the jail and they're arraigned by video conference by their attorneys in the court," he said.

Rosen said that move would save in transportation costs. Department budgets are expected to be submitted to the county next week.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)