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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
10-21-2008 Officials and dignitaries from all over Inyo County gathered Friday evening to honor and say their final goodbyes to retiring Inyo County Chief Probation Officer Jim Moffett.
Moffett’s friend, colleague and neighbor, Judge Dean Stout, presided over the event, providing those in attendance with a brief look into the retiring chief’s accomplishments and a chronology of his career.
The Inyo County Superior Courtroom was filled almost to capacity with people Moffett has touched throughout his career, each one sharing stories and kind words of a man often described as a “leader” and a “professional.”
“I am deeply saddened at the retirement of Mr. Moffett,” Stout said. “I quickly came to appreciate his wisdom, guidance and experience” throughout his time in Inyo County.
With more than 30 years in corrections still ahead of him, Moffett graduated from San Diego State University in 1974 and went to work with the Los Angeles County Probation Department. In March of 1979, he made his first move to the Eastern Sierra, working as the Mono County Probation Camp administrator. He served in that capacity until 1986, when he became director of the county’s Vision Quest program. Moffett left work for Mono County in 1988 and 1989 to pursue a career as a private investigator, but he couldn’t stay away long, and in 1989 he returned to serve as the victim-witness program coordinator for the Mono County District Attorney’s Office. In 1991 Moffett left the Eastern Sierra and took the chief probation officer position in Mariposa County. In 1991 he left Mariposa to serve as chief probation officer in Calaveras County. In August 2003 Moffett returned to the Sierra to serve as Inyo County’s chief probation officer.  Judge Dean Stout (r) presents retiring Inyo County Probation Chief Jim Moffett with a framed resolution, signed by the governor, honoring his 30-plus years of service as a corrections officer. Photo by Mike Gervais
Moffett is now set to retire and move to Silver City, N.M. on Nov. 4.
Throughout his long career in corrections, Moffett has made many friends, several of whom, from the Eastern Sierra and beyond, were on hand to say farewell and congratulate Moffett on his retirement.
Stout noted that prosecutors and defense attorneys, from both Inyo and Mono counties, were present to wish Moffett well. “That is a real testament of what our Probation Department is all about,” Stout said, noting that Moffett’s fairness and knowledge turned his colleagues into friends and earned him respect throughout the state.
According to Stout, Moffett was “instrumental” in orchestrating and launching the drug court program here, one of the most successful programs of its kind.
Doris Santiago, a treatment provider for the drug court program and board chair of the Inyo County Domestic Violence Council, said that Moffett is “a great politician with a heart for bridging gaps. You’ve always done what you said you would do,” she said to Moffett.
Bishop Mayor Smiley Connolly and Inyo County Board of Supervisors Chair Linda Arcularius spoke of Moffett’s “distinguished public service,” thanked him for his time in Inyo County and wished him luck in his retirement.
The city and the county both presented Moffett with plaques commemorating his service.
Law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Bill Lutze, Moffett’s successor Jeff Thomson and Mono County Chief Probation Officer Beverly Bryant, also took a few moments to congratulate Moffett on a successful career.
Bryant shared some of her experiences working with Moffett in Mono County, and noted that when he left, he never received a commemorative badge for his service. In addition to a wrapped present, she presented Moffett with his badge.
“Jim was a real leader, we truly do appreciate that,” said Lutze, adding that he would be missed throughout the county.
That sentiment was repeated constantly throughout the proceedings on Friday.
“Jim was a great leader,” said Thomson. “How lucky am I to have as a mentor a man who had over 30 years of experience? He never lost is enthusiasm or his commitment.”
According to Moffett, it’s with mixed emotions that he moves on to this next chapter in his life.
“I have not necessarily looked forward to this day,” Moffett said. “It was never the stuff I accomplished, but it was the people I met and worked with. It’s not Jim Moffett, it’s the staff, and I just really appreciate all the accomplishments you all have made.”
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