Greg Hagwood’s last meeting as a Plumas County supervisor wasn’t all testimonials to his 35-year career in public service. It included some of the contentious funding issues the 4th district supervisor has been coping with over the last four years.
Still, the Dec. 17 meeting began with Ava Hagwood’s moving tribute to her father and was packed with acknowledgements of his achievements as a Plumas County deputy, sheriff and county supervisor. Throughout the meeting county department heads and members of the public expressed their appreciation to Hagwood, who served 10 years as Plumas County sheriff and four as supervisor, the last two as chair of the Plumas County Board of Supervisors.
Hagwood, 59, took it all in with humility, often struggling to contain his emotions. “I’ve been fortunate to have had many opportunities,” he said. In response to the gratitude expressed by individuals who have worked with him, Hagwood consistently said, “It’s been my privilege and honor to have worked with you.”
Among the tributes was a plaque with a resolution from California Senator Brian Dahle and state Assemblywoman Megan Dahle. They congratulated Hagwood on a long list of accomplishments, including securing $25 million to build a new Plumas County jail.
“I was a part of those efforts,” Hagwood said, “but many others were involved. These were not individual accomplishments.
“I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with incredibly dedicated people in our communities and across the state. It’s been my good fortune to be with the right people at the right time to collectively realize a number of meaningful successes,” he said.
Public service began early
Hagwood entered public service at age 12, when he worked at the Plumas County fairgrounds. He weeded petunias, shoveled manure, emptied garbage — ” anything and everything.” He held that job until he graduated from Quincy Junior-Senior High School in 1984.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento, Hagwood was hired in 1988 as a patrol deputy by then Plumas County Sheriff Dick McKenzie. He served for three years as resident deputy in La Porte.
“That was the greatest law enforcement job you could ask for,” Hagwood said. During the winter months he would spend four days a week in the town 33 miles from Quincy on a steep and winding road. He spent nights in the La Porte Hotel.
Hagwood doesn’t admit to seeing ghosts in the historic hotel but, he said, “I saw a lot of things in La Porte.” It was before the sheriff’s office had snowmobiles. “My winter patrol area was about three blocks.”
It was also before cell phones, so when he arrived in La Porte Hagwood would go to the general store and call dispatch to see what was going on. “And then every few hours, I’d go back to the general store to see if there was anything I needed to be aware of, then head out again on patrol.”
Ten years as Plumas County sheriff
Hagwood always wanted to be a sheriff and he wanted it in his home county. In 2009 he ran for the position he coveted and won, capturing 83% of the vote. At 42, he was the youngest sheriff in the state of California, and, in that election, had the largest margin of victory in a contested sheriff’s race in the state, Hagwood told The Plumas Sun. He ran successfully for sheriff two more times, both unopposed.
Among the highlights of his decade-long career as sheriff was getting to know Plumas County in all its diverse corners. “I got to meet a lot of wonderful people and understand the differences in our communities,” he said.
His regular interactions with officials at the local, state and federal levels taught Hagwood that the position of sheriff is as much administrative as it is hands-on law enforcement. “The tools necessary to be an effective and successful administrator are very different skills from serving search warrants, solving homicides and taking down meth labs,” he said.
Armed with that knowledge and an expanded skillset, Hagwood began considering his future in public service. “I was doing just fine as the sheriff probably could have kept running and getting elected,” he said. But he was alarmed by what was happening in the county.
Elected department heads were “being treated pretty poorly,” he said. They had not seen a cost of living or a raise in over a decade. Hagwood had served enough years to have a secure retirement plan, but he knew the situation for other elected officials “wasn’t going to get any better.” Indeed, two long-term elected officials retired in 2019.
Hagwood did, too, resigning midway through his third term as sheriff and announcing that he would run for the 4th district county supervisor position: “I wanted to play a significant role on the board. I wanted to secure some raises and change the way that the elected departments are treated.”
Hagwood won handily, garnering nearly 80% of the votes cast in the March 2020 primary. He took the oath of office as county supervisor in January 2021.
Serving as a county supervisor
During his four years as county supervisor Hagwood saw many of his goals accomplished. He secured $25 million in state funds to build a new Plumas County jail and attended the dedication in 2024. He also played a major role in 2022, leading the supervisors to grant six elected officials their first pay raises since 2007. Later that year the supervisors reevaluated the salaries of all department heads, resulting in varying pay increases…
Hagwood was again a major player in the 20% across-the-board raise approved in 2023 for all sheriff’s office employees. It was the largest for any county employee group since at least 1988, he said. Calling it historic, Hagwood said the raise demonstrates the county’s commitment to public safety.
Hagwood was chair of the board for nearly half his tenure as supervisor. He ran a well-managed meeting, balancing the conflicting goals of allowing the public to participate and keeping the meeting on schedule. His tools included humor and, very occasionally, the gavel.
For all of his successes, Hagwood was all too aware of the work left undone as he prepared to leave public service Dec. 31, 2024. For the county to truly prosper, he said, it needs to be a fully functioning machine.
“We’re at a point where it could fail. For the county to succeed it needs to really start running on all cylinders. All the cylinders have to be firing,” he told The Plumas Sun.
Part of the problem, Hagwood said, is that some county departments have lacked the tools to do business in the 21st century. There are offices that have been doing things “by hand,” he said. “You have to implement and utilize proven technologies to establish efficiency and accuracy. We’re starting to do that,” he said.
Hagwood also cited “long standing animosities” within the county government that are preventing the kind of progress he would like to see.
“It can be very challenging to look at things objectively from a business perspective, and make decisions that can have impacts on people that are your neighbors, people that you’ve known for decades, people that you consider friends,” said Hagwood. That, however, should be the goal “of everyone who truly loves Plumas County,” he said.
Despite his misgivings, Hagwood expressed optimism as well. “If the proven technologies we’re making available offer a platform for efficiency and performance and success; if we have the right people in place; and if they all work together, this county will succeed,” Hagwood said.
As to his personal future, Hagwood visibly brightened when he described G&J Lawn Enforcement, the landscaping business he launched 18 months ago. “I get to work with the nicest people and my office is the most beautiful place in the world. I get a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small, in helping somebody make their home more attractive,” he said.
Hagwood said he plans to spend more time with family, including his parents, both in their 80s, his children and his infant grandson.
