A 16-year clean record outweighed a single lapse that cost taxpayers under $300

A California appeals court upheld a one-year suspension, not dismissal, for a highway patrol officer who claimed overtime pay he did not earn.

A California Highway Patrol officer will keep his badge despite claiming overtime he did not earn, after a state appeals court declined to overturn the lighter penalty a personnel board handed down.

The Court of Appeal's Second Appellate District affirmed the one-year suspension on July 29, 2026, in a ruling later certified for publication. The CHP had wanted him fired.

The dispute started with a highway maintenance program. When the officer's assignment ended early one morning in September 2017, policy required him to stay at the station for the rest of his shift to claim full overtime. Instead, he drove 35 miles home - and still billed the whole 10 hours.

The CHP determined he had "dishonestly" reported his time and was "fraudulently compensated" $288.98 for roughly three hours and 45 minutes he did not work. It also found he failed to log his patrol car's return time on eight occasions.

The agency dismissed him in February 2020. But the case turned into a fight over the right punishment, not the facts, which were largely undisputed.

An administrative law judge first cut the penalty to a one-month suspension. The State Personnel Board then rejected that, finding the officer had been dishonest - yet still landed on a one-year suspension rather than...

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