Embattled sheriff won't seek reelection
Laurie Smith announces plans to retire in January at end of sixth term
Facing corruption probes and a potential trial that could expel her from office, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said she will not run for reelection and will retire when her sixth term ends in January.
Smith, who was the first woman to be elected sheriff in California, made the announcement just days before the Thursday county reelection filing deadline for incumbents. The decision was expected within her office, and records with the California Secretary of State showed that she never formed a campaign committee for the 2022 sheriff's race.
“This job will never be finished and it is with some regret that I announce my retirement from service at the end of my term in January of 2023,” Smith wrote in a public statement March 10. “My decision not to run for reelection was very difficult. There is much still to do, but the interests of the people of our County must continue to be our first priority.”
In an email to staff, Smith wrote that “I will not miss the politics of this job, I will miss the people with whom I have had the pleasure to work with over the years.”
Her mention of politics appeared to be a reference to the more than two years of scrutiny her office has faced, including from prosecutors who indicted two of her commanders on charges that they brokered a payfor-play scheme trading seldomissued concealed-carry weapons permits for political donations. Smith and her agency have also been the subject of growing criticism from the county Board of Supervisors, who issued a no-confidence vote in the sheriff last fall, citing the concealed-carry permits
scandal as well as expensive settlements related to abuse in the county jails.
Smith now faces seven formal corruption accusations from the county's civil grand jury, which began a probe last fall at the urging of the supervisors. The jury's accusations focused on the gun-permit scandal, as well as a high-profile jail-injury case and an aborted investigation that followed. If the accusations go to trial and a jury finds her guilty of just one of any count, the verdict would compel her removal from office.
In her statement, Smith made multiple references to the criticism she has received and suggested that running for reelection “would be unfair to the voters of Santa Clara County to force them
to make a decision in the middle of a drama not of their making.”
“Decisions to stand up for a victim of a gang rape, oppose a Judge who leniently dealt with a sexual offender because of his privileged status or taking on other elected officials to protect the public and a former reputable newspaper because it was the right thing to do makes you a target,” she wrote.
The latter reference appears to be to officeholders who spearheaded the call for external probes into Smith's office — including a probe started by the state attorney general's office— and to this news organization, which the sheriff has repeatedly criticized over the past few years.
“I have always served the people of Santa Clara County and
have never engaged in any behavior that would warrant the media animus, false legal narrative, or political attacks currently in the public domain,” Smith added. “I have always dismissed these attacks for what they are — specious attempts by unsavory political opponents in retribution for serving the public with honor.”
Her statement and staff email did not specifically mention growing calls for her resignation — which she has rejected — and that the labor unions representing her agency's rank and file, the Deputy Sheriffs' Association and the county Correctional Peace Officers Association, voted not to endorse her. Technically, she was never an official candidate; both unions have endorsed retired sheriff's Capt. Kevin Jensen, who ran against Smith in 2014.
Smith was first elected in 1998 and has been with the agency since 1973 when was was hired as a sheriff's matron, before women were allowed to be fullduty deputies.
“The decision by Sheriff Smith not to seek re-election will allow the candidates vying to replace her an uncluttered opportunity to focus on articulating their vision, priorities and plans to move our agency forward,” read a statement Thursday from DSA President Ryan Elder.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen, one of the elected officials who has repeatedly clashed with Smith — and whose indictments implicated her office in the CCW permit scandal — said in a statement that “This county deserves a sheriff who has the highest integrity and the trust of the community to protect and serve fairly and professionally.”
In the email to her staff Thursday, Smith referenced generally the pool of candidates vying to replace her, which includes Jensen and active sheriff's Sgts. Christine Nagaye and Sean Allen. Palo Alto Police Chief Bob Jonsen is also running to occupy the office Smith has held for nearly a quarter century.
“I pledge to help make the transition to new leadership as seamless as possible,” Smith wrote.
But depending on what happens with the civil grand jury accusations, she might not get the chance to do that. Earlier this month, Smith filed her formal objection to the corruption accusations, in which her attorney sought to dismiss four of the seven counts on the argument that they didn't specifically show any wrongdoing.
The written motion, however, did not challenge three counts accusing her of circumventing the state gift-limit law for officeholders in her use of a donated San Jose Sharks luxury suite to celebrate her 2018 reelection. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 26.