A San Jose resident is taking Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen to court, accusing him of wasting public money by paying a prosecutor to stay home while warning residents about looming budget carnage. The taxpayer lawsuit, filed March 25, 2026, asks a judge to order that Deputy District Attorney Daniel Chung be put back on active duty instead of collecting a paycheck from his couch. The complaint argues those payments are an avoidable drain on a department Rosen himself has said is facing an unprecedented shortfall.
Complaint Details The Payroll And Legal Bills
Attorney Jim McManis filed the suit on behalf of San Jose resident Sarah Scofield, 63. The complaint says Rosen has told Chung to remain offsite while continuing biweekly paychecks of $8,525, and that Rosen paid Chung about $314,596 between 2022 and 2025. On top of that, the filing flags roughly $450,000 in outside legal fees the county reportedly spent defending Rosen’s personnel decisions. Those numbers come from reporting in the Palo Alto Daily Post…