Orange County Supervisors are once again looking for a new leader of their internal law enforcement watchdog after outgoing director Robert Faigin quietly departed earlier this month. 

He’s the second director in six years to leave the Office of Independent Review, one of the county’s smallest departments tasked with overseeing the OC Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney, the Probation Department, Social Services Agency (SSA), and the Public Defender. 

While the office was founded in 2008, it has largely been catatonic for most of its history amid repeated debates by county leaders throughout the past decade on whether it should exist at all. 

Faigin has faced questions for years from supervisors on how effectively his office can do its job with six employees and a $1 million budget to oversee five departments with a combined budget of $2.6 billion and over 10,000 staff members.  

[Read: What Is Orange County’s Law Enforcement Watchdog Investigating?] 

Despite those concerns, supervisors asked Faigin to stay on, but couldn’t come to an agreement on a salary bump according to county spokeswoman Molly Nichelson. 

“The parties did not come to a meeting of the minds as to Mr. Faigin’s salary and, with the November 3, 2025, expiration of his contract, Mr. Faigin indicated an intention to retire from County service,” Nichelson wrote in a Wednesday statement. 

Faigin did not respond to requests for comment. 

Supervisors picked Stella Lim to take over the office on an interim basis while they look for a new director, but it’s unclear what she’s investigating or will continue to work on with Faigin’s departure. 

Beyond picking an interim director, supervisors haven’t said much on what they hope to see in the future at the agency. 

Supervisors Doug Chaffee and Vicente Sarmiento said they looked forward to finding a new director in written statements, while the rest of the supervisors have not said anything on the issue. 

All of Faigin’s recommendations related to use of force for sheriff’s deputies were ignored, but the department did take several recommendations to increase women prisoners’ access to family planning services along with health products.   

[Read: OC Sheriffs Ignores New Use of Force Policy Recommendations]

The office is also tasked with reviewing investigations after people die in the sheriff’s department’s custody, but has not yet published a review of any in custody deaths from the last three years according to their website. 

That all comes as county supervisors settled $15 million in lawsuits against the sheriff’s department under Faigin’s oversight, nearly half of which came from a single settlement to the family of Kurt Reinhold, a homeless man who was killed by deputies after they stopped him for jaywalking.

[Read: Spitzer Clears Deputy Who Shot and Killed Kurt Reinhold During Jaywalking Stop] 

County supervisors also paid out $6.3 million in lawsuit losses and settlements related to District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s conduct during that time, including a jury trial that found he retaliated against at least one woman who helped report one of his top subordinates for sexual harassment. 

[Read: Orange County’s Top Prosecutor Could See Another Trial Over Alleged Employee Retaliation] 

Only one of Faigin’s reports mentioned Spitzer’s office, and noted there was a policy protecting employees against retaliation. The report did not make any recommendations to change the policy. 

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.

Related