SLO County employee arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than $100,000 over 6 years

Chloe Jones, Stephanie Zappelli
·2 min read
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The San Luis Obispo County employee who was being investigated for allegedly misusing funds was arrested Wednesday morning, the District Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Tribune.

Norman Hibble, 54, is accused of 12 felony counts of embezzlement by a public officer, court records show. According to the records, the crimes occurred between April 2017 and January 2023.

San Luis Obispo County announced a criminal and internal investigation into Hibble, an information technology supervisor, on Nov. 14 for “the potential misuse of county funds for personal purchases,” though his identity was not released until Tuesday.

Hibble was put on administrative leave Nov. 14 after District Attorney’s Office investigators served a search warrant at his home and office based on evidence uncovered by the county. He was officially fired on Jan. 5.

A District Attorney’s Office news release said Hibble used a San Luis Obispo County credit card to purchase “well over $100,000” of personal items.

“This is a terrible abuse of the trust Mr. Hibble had acquired during his 16 years of employment with the county. He stole taxpayer money,” county counsel Rita Neal said in a news release Wednesday.

Hibble was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail with a $350,000 bail, the news release said. Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth confirmed to The Tribune that Hibble had been arrested Tuesday morning.

The first embezzlement charge, from between April 26, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2017, carries a sentencing enhancement for the amount being more than $100,000.

If convicted, the District Attorney’s Office release said, he faces “a significant prison sentence.”

Dobroth told The Tribune it appears Hibble embezzled money on an almost weekly basis totaling to hundreds of times during the six years. The agency charged Hibble in six month increments.

The suspected theft was discovered by staff of the County Office of the Auditor-Controller, the release said, who identified purchasing irregularities and worked closely with the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit. The two units are continuing to investigate the case.

The county will pursue all legal means possible to recover the funds Hibble allegedly stole, including severing his pension if he is convicted, according to the release.

“The county takes theft of county funds very seriously and we won’t tolerate it from any employee,” interim county administrative officer Rebecca Campbell said in the release.

According to Transparent California, a database of public employee salaries, Hibble started working for the county as an information technology supervisor in 2013.

In 2017, the year of his first alleged embezzlement, his pay totaled to nearly $162,250. By 2022, his pay was $219,350.