Redwood City — The Board of Supervisors today accepted the certified results of the special election which will give it the temporary authority to remove an elected sheriff for cause and considered proposed procedures that might apply to any removal proceeding.
Measure A, which passed with 84 percent of the vote in the March 4, 2025, election, amends the County Charter through Dec. 31, 2028 to allow for the removal of the Sheriff for cause. However, several steps must occur before the Board can consider removing her for cause, which includes a violation of law related to a Sheriff’s duties, flagrant or repeated neglect of duties, misappropriation of public funds, willful falsification of documents or obstructing an investigation.
The Charter change does not take effect until April 18, 2025, 10 days after the Board’s acceptance of the special election vote count at today’s meeting. If the procedures presented today were to be adopted at a subsequent meeting, the following process would apply:
- The Board can start a removal process by a four-fifths vote and issuing the sheriff a written Notice of Intent to Remove that includes the grounds and a notice to appear at pre-removal conference within five calendar days.
- At that conference, the sheriff can respond to the stated grounds.
- The individual presiding over that conference with the sheriff will make a recommendation to the Board whether to uphold the removal; a four-fifths vote of the Board is required to remove the sheriff.
- The sheriff would be able to appeal and receive a full evidentiary hearing; any such hearing will be open to the public unless the sheriff objects in writing.
- If an appeal goes forward, at least three neutral hearing officers will be proposed and one chosen.
- The sheriff must appear at the appeal hearing where each side will have up to five days each to call witnesses. The hearing officer may also issue subpoenas, and all witnesses will testify under oath.
- At the end of the hearing, the hearing officer has 30 calendar days to issue an opinion, after the receipt of which the Board which will make a final decision, with a four-fifths vote needed to remove the sheriff.
The counsel retained by the County to assist in developing the procedures estimates that the process will take three-and-a-half months to complete once initiated.
During today’s meeting, the Board directed staff to consider whether the procedures should be revised to provide that the County’s probation officer or an elected officer will preside over the pre-removal conference.
The final removal procedures, incorporating direction from today’s meeting, will be presented to the Board for consideration and adoption at an upcoming Board meeting.
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org
650-670-6114