Overview:
Fresno’s Measure A unlawfully conflicts with California law and has the potential to suppress voter turnout,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said.
As expected, the California Justice Department sued Fresno County on Friday over recent voter-approved changes to the election cycles of the county’s top two law enforcement leaders.
In March, voters adopted Fresno County’s Measure A, which changed the county’s charter and moved the election cycles for the Fresno County sheriff and district attorney back to the gubernatorial cycle.
The county’s move came in response to AB 759, a 2022 law that required most local counties to conduct the elections of the sheriff and district attorney during the presidential election cycle. Exceptions were made for charter counties that, as of Jan. 1, 2021, specifically designated those races for a different election cycle.
Fresno County’s charter did not address the election of the sheriff and district attorney until voters approved those changes in March in response to AB 759.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Fresno County officials slammed the lawsuit.
“This lawsuit is an invalid attempt to overturn the will of the voters of Fresno County in violation of the California Constitution,” officials said in a statement.
If AB 759 stands, then Sheriff John Zanoni and District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp would serve six-year terms, ending in 2028, instead of the typical four-year stints. If Measure A prevails in court, the sheriff and prosecutor would serve four-year terms, ending in 2026.
Zanoni and Smittcamp have challenged the legitimacy of the temporary term-limit extensions despite benefiting from them.
The debate around the little-known law continues to fall mainly around the typical partisan lines.
Democrats argue that greater voter participation should be encouraged for critical law enforcement races, particularly in communities with a history of over-policing.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, echoed the voter participation talking points in a statement Friday.
“Our democracy works best when everyone can participate and make their voices heard. Fresno’s Measure A unlawfully conflicts with California law and has the potential to suppress voter turnout,” Bonta said in a news release. “Ensuring that a large and more inclusive pool of voters can vote for candidates who reflect their values is a fundamental step to making democracy work. We’re asking the court to block Measure A.”
Fresno County officials called it “an illegal infringement on the charter powers of Fresno County and its voters and may violate other state laws by illegally extending the term of officers here and in other counties after voters have elected those officers to four-year terms.”
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz released a statement Friday applauding the Justice Department lawsuit against Fresno County.
In the statement, Janz said he “welcomes the state inquiry since DA and Sheriff elections have a profound impact on the enforcement and prosecution of crimes in the City of Fresno.”
Last year, Janz said he was instructed by the Fresno City Council to seek legal advice from the Attorney General’s Office regarding Fresno County’s Measure A.
Fresno County officials also said they had “no comment on the media release by the City Attorney, an official who has no standing or jurisdiction with respect to the County charter and the County’s internal organizational matters under State law.”
Janz, a former prosecutor and Democratic politician, has never responded to a question about whether he intends to seek election to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office in the future.
Inside the fight over top cop elections and Fresno County’s Measure A
Despite adopting the law, the California Legislature didn’t appear confident it had the authority to dictate election cycles in the state’s 14 charter counties.
An April 2021 analysis from the Assembly’s elections committee concluded it was “unclear whether the provisions of this bill can be made applicable to charter counties.”
The elections committee analysis noted that “it could be argued that this bill, by prescribing the election at which county officers must be elected, conflicts with a charter county’s authority to provide for the terms of elected county officers.”
Led by Brandau, supporters of Fresno County’s Measure A have said California’s Democratic-dominated legislature overstepped its authority by trying to dictate charter county elections.
“My argument is that charter counties, among other powers, have the authority to determine the schedule of these officers,” Brandau said in a statement to Fresnoland earlier this year. “We are fighting for our local autonomy.
Brandau previously called the turnout argument “fallacious.”
“Yes, more people vote in the presidential cycle, but the races down ballot get swallowed up in the national theater of the presidential election,” Brandau argued. “Local candidates and local issues struggle to get airtime to discuss local issues in presidential years.”
Brandau has also slammed the idea as “dismissive of our voters.”
“The Legislature is basically saying voters are too lazy to trust these races to off-cycles,” Brandau told Fresnoland earlier this year. “We should not be discouraging voting in any election cycle.”
