Humboldt County redoes sheriff oversight vote after Brown Act violation

Humboldt County’s push for civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Office is being sent back for another hearing after county officials concluded the Board of Supervisors likely ran afoul of California’s open-meetings law during its April 28 session.

The board will rehear the item Tuesday, May 12, in the Board of Supervisors Chamber at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka. County officials said the public comment period will be reopened so residents can weigh in again on whether Humboldt should create an independent, civilian-led oversight committee for the Sheriff’s Office.

The problem appears to have surfaced around the 10-hour mark of the April 28 meeting, a marathon session that had already pushed a major policy dispute deep into the night. The county’s decision to redo the hearing means the board must re-run the discussion that was meant to move oversight forward, but is now shadowed by a likely Brown Act violation. The law exists to protect the public’s right to participate in local government, and the reset underscores how a process failure can slow a politically sensitive decision as much as opposition can.

On April 29, supervisors had voted 4-1 to form an ad hoc committee to work with staff on a draft ordinance for a civilian-led oversight system. First District Supervisor Rex Bohn cast the lone dissenting vote. The ad hoc committee was assigned to Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell and Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo, and the board directed the pair to return with a draft ordinance by the end of September.

The original push began about a month earlier, when community members used non-agenda public comment to press the board for a ballot measure creating independent oversight. Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone sponsored the item and argued that oversight was needed to build trust in law enforcement. Supervisors also discussed the possibility of putting a measure before voters in the November 2026 general election if staff could meet the deadline.

The issue has been building for more than a year. The 2023-2024 Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury released a report on April 30, 2024 calling for a civilian oversight board and an office of inspector general for the Sheriff’s Office. In its consolidated final report issued June 30, 2024, the grand jury said its work included eight reports, interviews with more than 60 people, thousands of pages of documents and thousands of hours of research and writing, and it argued that oversight would strengthen transparency, accountability, professionalism, fiscal responsibility and public trust.

The rehearing now puts that larger question back before the five-member Board of Supervisors: whether civilian review will become a real new layer of accountability over the Sheriff’s Office, or remain another Humboldt County reform that gets delayed by the process meant to deliver it.