I found a way.. you will need to tweak the colors a bit.. ;-)
Add this to your /scp/css/scp.css file
http://pastebin.com/zPNrAytc
Then open /include/staff/tickets.inc.php, find:
if(!strcasecmp($row,'open') && !$row && !$row) {
$tid=sprintf('%s',$tid);
}?>
" >
<?php if($thisstaff->canManageTickets()) {
And modify to this: http://pastebin.com/AgwaBLZ7
You could go another way, such as setting "class" id's based on the name, so you could use: 3=>'sales' or something, then your css class would be: .dept-sales, which might be a lot clearer actually. ;-)
To find those dept ids, go into the admin settings, Select "Staff" -> "Departments", hover your mouse over the department name, and the url will end with the id.. should start at 3 I think.
YMMV, I had to modify the css for the TD cells, not the TR row.. as it just kept getting overridden..