Voter-approved Measure A puts San Mateo’s top law enforcement official under scrutiny
San Mateo County, California – The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Tuesday to follow a formal proposal to start the process of removing Sheriff Christina Corpus from her office. The supervisors’ vote marked the next step in a removal procedure authorized by Measure A, a charter amendment that nearly 84% of county voters approved in March 2025.
John Keene, the county’s Chief Probation Officer, held a pre-removal conference before the motion to continue. He ran the meeting according to the new removal procedures that had just been put in place. Sheriff Corpus and her attorney were present at this session, which provided the sheriff a chance to respond to and deny the serious allegations made in the Notice of Intent to Remove. The notification had been approved on June 5 and sent to her in person before the meeting.
County Attorney John Nibbelin talked about Keene’s written findings during the hearing on Tuesday. Nibbelin read from Keene’s report, which said that after hearing the sheriff’s own response at the conference, Keene decided that her actions met the “for cause” standards set down in Section 412.5(B) of the County Charter. This part says that a sheriff can be fired if they break the law, seriously neglect their duties, or obstruct an investigation.
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The law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP did a thorough independent investigation that led to the Notice of Intent to Remove. The investigation put together 524 pages of documents and spoke to 42 witnesses. It came to the conclusion that Sheriff Corpus may have committed multiple acts of misconduct. If established at a hearing, these actions could be grounds for her removal under the charter’s rules for breaking the law while on duty, willfully and repeatedly failing to do her duty, and getting in the way of investigations.
Sheriff Corpus now has five days to ask for a full evidentiary hearing because of Measure A and the procedures that followed. A hearing like this would include sworn testimony in front of a hearing officer chosen from a Board-approved panel. That officer would be able to issue subpoenas, review documents, and hear live testimony. The hearing must start and conclude within 60 days of the officer’s appointment — unless Sheriff Corpus objects in writing, in which case the proceedings could become closed to the public.
The sheriff must go to the evidentiary hearing unless the hearing officer lets her off the hook. If she didn’t show up for the hearing without a good explanation, the hearing officer could throw out her appeal immediately away. After the hearing, the officer has 45 calendar days to write an advisory opinion. The Board will then look at this opinion at a public meeting. The Board would need to vote four-fifths again to remove the sheriff.
Measure A gives the Board the power to fire a sheriff for certain reasons until December 31, 2028. These reasons include breaking the law while on the job, gross negligence, misusing public funds, falsifying documents, or getting in the way of an investigation. County officials think the whole process might take around four months, although this time frame could change depending on how things go.
The Board has upheld the resolution voted by the county’s voters and created a clear path for a full assessment of the sheriff’s actions as this extraordinary removal process proceeds forward. In the next few weeks, we’ll find out if the claims are true and if Sheriff Corpus will stay in office.
