After years of community input and discussion, the Marin County Board of Supervisors has introduced an ordinance to establish a Civilian Oversight Commission and an Office of the Inspector General to independently oversee the Sheriff’s Office.
The ordinance will go for a second reading Tuesday, and if adopted, it will align with a state law that allows counties to implement such oversight.
The board took input from the community as well as a working group formed in 2022 that was tasked with examining different oversight models.
“The Board of Supervisors extends its deep appreciation to the working group for its community outreach, dedicated efforts, and invaluable community perspective,” board president Dennis Rodoni said at the supervisors’ Oct. 29 meeting. “Public speakers, including seasoned experts in civilian oversight, made it clear that the ordinance strikes a thoughtful balance, fostering both transparency and accountability and integrates appropriate levels of civilian oversight.”
The total cost of implementing oversight would be approximately $708,600 annually, according to the working group.
Marin County Sheriff Jamie Scardina said at a supervisors’ meeting in June 2023 that he approves of the formation of an oversight entity, stating that it will make the Sheriff’s Office “a better department.”
Scardina, along with members of the working group, added that emphasis will be placed on collaboration between the Sheriff’s Office, the inspector general and the oversight commission under the group’s proposed model.
Call for oversight stretches back decades
The push for a citizen oversight board stems from a June 2022 Marin County Civil Grand Jury report entitled “Sheriff Oversight: The Time is Now,” which outlined a “strained” and distrustful relationship between law enforcement and residents in unincorporated Marin City.
The report and its recommendations were compiled in the wake of Assembly Bill 1185, passed in the fall of 2020, allowing counties to create citizen oversight boards. The jury pointed out that the job has previously fallen to the Marin County Board of Supervisors — though in some counties the sheriff answers to no one. Sheriffs are elected but do not report to any county official.
Following the grand jury report, the Marin County Board of Supervisors made a commitment to establish an independent community oversight structure for the Sheriff’s Office.
According to the grand jury report, the relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and Black residents of Marin City has not been a good one. Residents call their town a “training ground” for new deputies and claim that they are overpoliced as a result. Excessive stops, arrests, citations and warnings are routine, Black residents told the jury.
But the call for more oversight stretches back decades. In 2006, another civil grand jury recommended to the Board of Supervisors that a sheriff review board be created. It was rejected by both the board and the sheriff.
The Marin County Board of Supervisors will convene again Tuesday and hold a second reading of the ordinance. The board meets at 9 a.m. in Board Chambers, Room 330, of the Marin County Civic Center on Civic Center Drive in San Rafael.
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