Bay Area Sheriff Accused Of Misconduct By Civil Grand Jury

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A San Mateo County sheriff who the board of supervisors recently voted to remove has now been accused of willful or corrupt misconduct by a civil grand jury, prosecutors said on Monday.

San Mateo Sheriff Christina Corpus faces one count of conflict of interest stemming from the hiring of former Executive Director of Administration Victor Aenlle and three counts of retaliation for the firing of Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan, the transfer of Captain Brian Philip and the arrest of Deputy Carlos Tapia. Corpus has denied all wrong doing.

Corpus is scheduled to appear in court for the civil case on July 15.

These accusations are the same Corpus has been fighting with the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for months.

In March 2025 the supervisors passed Measure A, authorizing the temporary power to remove the sheriff from office and establishing the proceedings to do so including an appeal and evidentiary at the sheriff's request.

On June 24, the supervisors once again voted to remove the sheriff at their meeting following a pre-removal conference with the sheriff and the probation officer.

On Friday, a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge denied Corpus' attempt to halt the removal proceedings for a second time after she filed another restraining order.

Corpus' attorneys made documents public in filing the restraining order that she had previously chose to keep confidential, including the notice of intent to remove the sheriff, exhibits related to the intent, a transcript of the pre-decision conference before Chief Probation Officer John Keene and Keene's recommendation to proceed with the sheriff's removal, Marshall Willson, a communication officer with San Mateo County, said on Wednesday.