County Takes Control Of Bay Area Sheriff's Budget At Board Meeting

SAN MATEO, CA — The board of supervisors adopted a resolution Tuesday that granted the San Mateo County Executive oversight of the sheriff's office budget.

On September 24, 2024, the San Mateo Board of Supervisors approved an updated County Reserves Policy. This new policy increased the required reserve amounts, established maximum reserve levels, and outlined new oversight procedures. These procedures specifically address departments whose reserves drop below 2 percent of their net appropriations.

The supervisors approved this resolution granting the county executive, Mike Callagy, oversight after the San Mateo Sheriff's Office was unable to meet the 2 percent reserve requirement.

As part of the oversight, the Board directed the County Executive to revoke the sheriff's office's authority to approve contracts of $200,000 or less, requiring all such contracts to be submitted to the County Executive's Office for review and approval before execution.

"This resolution will positively impact communities in San Mateo County by promoting financial stability, which in turn allows the County to maintain essential services, particularly for underserved communities, during economic downturns.," said Supervisor Jackie Speier, District 1.

Sheriff Christina Corpus sent a letter to the county attorney Sunday asking the board to remove the resolution. Corpus claimed she had received no notice of this action and no opportunity to provide input. She said she only recently became aware of the resolution on social media.

"The lack of transparency surrounding this resolution is deeply troubling and raises fundamental questions about governance and fairness," Corpus said.

Corpus claimed the Sheriff's Office's inability to meet the 2 percent reserve requirement was a direct result of Callagy's decision to approve double overtime, which, in turn, destabilized the Sheriff's Office budget.

The Sheriff’s Office reserves is currently less than 0.5 percent of that net appropriations amount. Given the low level of Sheriff’s Office reserves, this Board believed that the County would benefit from increased oversight of Sheriff’s Office fiscal operations.

Corpus said in the fiscal year ‘23–24, double overtime costs totaled $17.2 million, but the County Executive's Office covered only $8.4 million, leaving the sheriff’s office to absorb the rest. In September 2024, the County increased the departmental reserve requirement from 2 percent to 4 percent, creating an $11.5 million shortfall for the sheriff’s office. Corpus claimed.

She also cited Callagy being named as a plaintiff in active litigation as the sheriff faces accusations of misconduct by a civil grand jury.

"This creates a clear and undeniable conflict of interest. It is improper and deeply concerning for an individual in this position to assume direct control over the budget of an independently elected official, especially when the actions leading to the alleged problem originated from that very office," Corpus said.

The board of supervisors released the findings of an independent investigation May 22 into complaints made by the sheriff against a Callagy that clears him of all misconduct accusations, the report stated.