County supervisors Tuesday appointed Undersheriff Bob Doyle as sheriff. Sheriff Chuck Prandi earlier said he would resign by March 31 - possibly sooner.

Prandi did not say why he was resigning, only that it was time for him to move on. The sheriff's job pays $99,112 per year.

The sheriff had urged the board to name Doyle to replace him.

Doyle, 48, was the West Marin night sergeant for a year in 1977-78, when the late Lt. Art Disterheft was the area commander at the Point Reyes Sheriff's Substation.

West Marin has not had an area commander since midway through the administration of former Sheriff Al Howenstein (1978-1982), but Doyle this week said he will "reintroduce" an area commander here in a month or two.

In addition, he added, West Marin will have a fulltime sergeant, Barry Heying, during the day. At present, the sergeant assigned to the Point Reyes Substation divides his time between West Marin and Civic Center duties.

Doyle noted the sheriff's office earlier this year received a federal grant to add two more deputies to the Marin City Substation. A condition of the grant, he said, was that the sheriff's office carry out "community-oriented policing."

As a result, he said, deputies are now expected to get out of their patrolcars more and establish rapport with residents: "It's imperative that we be out in the community more than we have been."

Although other parts of unincorporated Marin County have a greater "volume" of calls for service, West Marin's force is being beefed up because the coast is more remote, Doyle said.

Doyle's unanimous confirmation took the supervisors only about 15 minutes, but during that time Supervisor Hal Brown aired concerns raised in a letter from Virginia Davis of Nicasio. She asked the board to question Doyle about, among other things:

A "war zone"mentality between deputies and Marin City residents.

Doyle responded by denying there is a "war zone" in Marin City and by saying the Sheriff's Office has never used jail assignments to punish deputies.

He said his department has a policy of aggressively trying to recruit women and minorities.

However, he said he opposed creation of a Police Commission but would cooperate with one if the supervisors created it anyhow.

The incoming sheriff was born in San Francisco and raised in Daly City. He joined the Marin Sheriff's Office in November, 1969, and earned a degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Sonoma State in 1972, the same year he moved to Marin County.

In 1985, he was promoted to captain, and seven years ago he became undersheriff, the No. 2 position in the Sheriff's Department.

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