Fresno County DA, sheriff get an extra two years in battle over election schedule

Two of Fresno County’s top law enforcement officials just got extensions on their services, despite their own reservations and a voter-backed initiative that would have seen them up for re-election in 2026.

On Monday, a state court judge ruled to invalidate Fresno County’s Measure A, the 2024 ballot initiative that aligned District Attorney and Sheriff elections with the gubernatorial election cycle.

The ruling pushes Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp and Sheriff John Zanoni into six-year terms, with their re-elections now set for 2028.

Measure A passed in 2024’s March primary election with 55% of the vote and immediately put Fresno County at odds with AB 179, a 2022 state law that mandated such elections be synced to the presidential cycle. In July, California’s Attorney General and Secretary of State challenged the measure in court, claiming it was preempted by the state law.

In a 19-page ruling released Monday, Superior Court Judge Tyler Tharpe agreed.

While the county has “authority to set the terms of its elected officials,” he wrote, “it is not authorized under the California Constitution to set the dates on which the elections of local officials will be held.”

Judge Tharpe acknowledged the change as “a fairly minor intrusion on the County’s power to set the terms of its officials.”

It is a one-time extension.

“Any district attorney and sheriff elected from 2028 onward will serve four-year terms as specified by the county’s charter.”

Concerns over legislative process

In a joint statement, Smittcamp and Zanoni said they are prepared to serve the six-year terms and “remain committed to fulfilling our responsibilities with integrity and dedication for the full duration,” even as the county Board of Supervisors meets to discuss potential next steps, which it will do in closed session June 10.

But they also expressed concerns about the legislative process that led to the enactment of AB 759 in the first place.

“After sitting in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file for over a year, the bill advanced rapidly in the final weeks of the legislative session,” they wrote.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law in September 2022 “with little to no opportunity for public review,” Smittcamp and Zanoni said in their statement.

“As a result, local governments and voters were excluded from a policy decision that directly affects the terms of their elected officials.”

For his part, Attorney General Rob Bonta claimed Monday’s ruling as a win for voters.

“There is nothing more fundamental to American democracy than the right to vote and make your voice heard,” Bonta said in a statement. “With Measure A, Fresno County threatened to undermine that fundamental right, intentionally seeking to move elections for sheriff and district attorney to off years, when voters are far less likely to show up and cast a ballot,” he wrote.

“Our democracy works best when everyone can participate.”