Acting Probation Chief Gets Permanent Post

Stephanie W. Lewis, the county’s acting chief probation officer, was selected Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors to lead the 1,600-employee agency permanently.

Lewis, 53, is a 32-year Probation Department veteran and has served in various administrative positions, including Juvenile Hall director and head of adult and juvenile field supervision officers. While in that position, she developed the agency’s gang violence suppression program.

She will earn $133,000 a year overseeing a department that has a $113-million annual budget and monitors more than 21,000 adult and juvenile offenders.

Lewis replaced John Robinson as acting chief probation officer last year. Robinson had replaced Chief Probation Officer Michael Schumacher, who was then named to head the Orange County Health Care Agency and is now the county executive officer.