San Mateo County considering next steps in sheriff removal proceedings

“I want to make it crystal clear to the public that the Board will not be initiating removal procedures Tuesday,” Board President David Canepa said in a statement. “This will be a measured and transparent process that will be fair to the Sheriff, who deserves due process.”

In order to initiate the removal process, the Board of Supervisors must issue a written Notice of Intent to Remove, which includes the alleged grounds for removal and a notice to appear at a preremoval conference within five days. This conference will occur before Assistant County Executive Iliana Rodriguez, or her designee. Then, Rodriguez, or the designee, will make a recommendation to supervisors whether or not to uphold the removal.

If the board then votes to move forward with a four-fifth approval, a final notice of decision will be issued. Corpus can then appeal the decision to remove within five days of this final notice, or else the decision is final.

The hearing of Corpus’ appeal, should she request one, will then be open to the public, unless she objects and requests a closed hearing.

At least three neutral hearing officers — experienced in public safety officer disciplinary matters — will be proposed to hear the appeal, and one will be selected by both parties. Once the hearing officer is decided, the appeal hearing must occur within 60 days.

Corpus must appear at the hearing, where each side will present its case through live testimony. The hearing officer may issue subpoenas, and each party has to right to provide written discovery.

Once the appeal hearing concludes, the hearing officer will have 30 calendar days to issue an advisory opinion to the Board of Supervisors, which will then make a final decision that will be final and binding.

The proposed proceedings, as will be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, were drafted with guidance from the Hanson Bridgett LLP law firm that will be in attendance at the meeting to answer questions, the staff report reads.

Should Corpus appeal the petition for her removal, which she has stated she intends to do, the entire process could bleed into late summer before a final decision is made.

The extraordinary means to remove Corpus are in response to the dissatisfaction in her tenure that has only grown in the past year, including deputies and sergeants raising concern over union busting and a scathing independent investigation into her administration by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell. The investigation resulted in an over-400 page report detailing evidence of corruption, nepotism and retaliation.

The District Attorney’s Office is investigating the alleged criminal offenses outlined in the report and will be releasing its findings soon.

No information on Corpus’ possible successor, and how they would be selected, and how they would be chosen, has been discussed publicly by county officials or Sheriff’s Office personnel.