The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors is made up of five elected officials, with District 5's supervisor, Federal Glover, serving as vice president. All meetings are open to the public and the public is encouraged to attend either in person or via live streaming. In addition to the five elected supervisors, six other key county leaders who hold department head positions are elected to office through countywide elections. One of these department heads is Deputy Sheriff Casten, who graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in Criminal Justice Administration. Deputy Sheriff Casten is accredited as a California senior executive by the CSAC Institute for Excellence in County Government.
He has also served as executive manager on several major projects for the Sheriff's Office, including the East Bay Regional Communication System, a P25 800 MHz digital trunk voice communication system, 800 MHz and multi-jurisdictions in two counties, and was president of the Automated Regional Exchange System (ARIES) during the initial development of that project in Contra Costa County.
