How much do government jobs pay in SLO County? See top salaries
How much do government employees earn in San Luis Obispo County?
SLO County’s 50 highest paid public employees collectively made more than $12.7 million in salaries, overtime pay and other wages, according to an analysis of county workers’ compensation records by The Tribune.
Multiple employees at San Luis Obispo County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office earned more than $300,000 in total wages, making them some of the highest paid county employees.
In some cases, more than half of the Sheriff’s Office employees’ total wages came from overtime pay.
The Tribune reached out to the county for the most recent compensation data available, examining documents to determine the highest paid public employees in 2025.
Here’s who earned the most in total pay and overtime – and how much they made:
What SLO County agencies pay workers the most?
Of SLO County’s 50 highest paid employees in 2025, 24 work for the Sheriff’s Office, according to public records.
Collectively, these two dozen Sheriff’s Office employees earned more than $6 million in annual wages in 2025.
Other top-earning public employees work for agencies including the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office and San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department.
Nine people working as county counsel, district attorney investigators, assistant direct attorney and district attorney in SLO County received about $2.3 million in total wages.
Meanwhile, three county Public Health employees collectively earned $771,145.
Other county departments with top-earning employees include Administration, Public Works, Treasury and Social Services.
Who collected the most overtime pay in the county?
Out of the 50 highest paid county employees, only 19 received overtime pay in 2025.
Overtime earnings for those county workers totaled more than $1.7 million.
In each case, more than 20% of the county employee’s total wages stemmed just from compensation for overtime.
Overtime accounted for more than 50% of total earnings for some employees.
Nearly $1.2 million of overtime pay went to 10 Sheriff’s Office employees. Here’s who made the most pay for extra hours worked:
- Sgt. John Penaflor: $191,003
- Sgt. Clinton Bird: $172,224
- Deputy William Spears: $132,599
- Deputy Quincy Knowlton: $124,141
- Sgt. Bradley Adams: $121,397
- Deputy Matthew Shields: $97,544
- Deputy John Ogden: $87,166
- Deputy Diego Sergovia: $79,075
- Senior Deputy Jerrod Place: $77,978
- Senior Deputy Travor Lopes: $76,663
Overtime pay accounted for more than 50% of the total wages earned by Penaflor and Knowlton in 2025, according to public records.
Penaflor made $191,003 in overtime pay, out of $371,437 in total wages.
Knowlton earned $235,416 in 2025, with $124,141 coming from working overtime.
Five Sheriff’s Office employees earned more than $120,000 in overtime pay, including two sheriff’s deputies and three sergeants.
Bird, Knowlton, Penaflor and Spears all made more money from overtime pay than from their regular salaries.
Which SLO County government employees earned the most?
According to public records, these were the top 10 highest paid county employees in 2025:
- Sheriff’s Sgt. John Penaflor: $371,437
- Sheriff’s Sgt. Clinton Bird: $354,704
- County administrative officer Matthew Pontes: $350,886
- County counsel Jon Ansolabehere: $326,286
- Staff psychiatrist Stephen Penepacker: $321,395
- District Attorney Daniel Dow: $311,897
- Sheriff Ian Parkinson: $293,043
- Public health administrator Penny Borenstein: $284,354
- Sheriff’s William Spears: $278,142
- Sheriff’s chief medical officer Seth Stabinsky: $277,784
County employee’s total annual pay consists of regular salaries, overtime pay, lump sum pay and other compensations.
Only three county officials who were listed within the top 10 highest paid county employees were paid for overtime work in 2025; Bird, Penaflor and Spears.
