A Fresno County Superior Court judge has set the date for the climax of a legal battle that will decide when exactly a controversial countywide transportation proposal goes before local voters.
Judge Jonathan Skiles ruled at Tuesday’s hearing that he will hear the case between the County of Fresno and the State of California on Friday afternoon, in a case that will see filings and arguments submitted swiftly as both parties look to conclude the lawsuit ahead of the rapidly approaching deadline to finalize what the November general election ballot will look like.
Arguments by both parties are expected to be submitted throughout the week ahead of Friday’s hearing. Skiles said he expects to issue an order by Monday, Aug. 31, leaving little time for an appeal.
“If I look a little sleep deprived on the 28th, you will know why,” Skiles said at Tuesday’s hearing, highlighting the expedited nature for which the case will be making its way through the legal system.
James Kus, the Fresno County Registrar of Voters, hopes to have a decision by Sept. 3 in order to most smoothly be able to print and distribute informational materials ahead of the November election. A ruling coming after that date would complicate the timeline for when voters get to see some materials, Kus told Fresnoland.
Though that may present a headache to him and his office, Kus said the November ballot will accurately reflect whatever the courts decide.
“We must deliver the best information we have to voters,” Kus said. “I have to do that, it is federal law.”
Fresno County mounted a case against the state for passing AB 1923 last month — a law that supersedes the power of the local board of supervisors by allowing California lawmakers to place a measure, if enough signatures have been gathered to qualify it, on the ballot.
The case is expected to culminate a years-long pursuit to attempt to provide Fresno voters with a chance to approve a measure to succeed Measure C — a countywide tax responsible for funding Fresno’s transportation and road infrastructure projects for the last 40 years.
However, the fight to get a new countywide transportation tax became highly politicized following years of failed attempts among local stakeholders on what the newest version of Measure C should look like.
The fight has seen local transit leaders, elected officials and community organizers fiercely argue over how much the new measure should prioritize investments in existing roads and infrastructure — along with an emphasis on public transportation — versus how much it should look to expand and create new highways and communities. Negotiations continued to falter following an unsuccessful renewal attempt through the 2022 election.
A bipartisan coalition of local organizers and elected officials known as “Better Roads, Safe Streets” worked to introduce a measure through a signature gathering process, forgoing much of the red tape that some felt was partially responsible for the failed negotiations.
But the road to the 2026 ballot for the Better Roads measure continued to see hurdles, culminating in a controversial decision by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to place the transportation tax proposal on the 2028 ballot.
Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria and state Sen. Anna Caballero controversially amended AB 1923 — a bill initially intended to provide a loan program for distressed hospitals — and rushed it through the legislature and toward California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval, following the board’s decision.
As of today, it is slated to be on the November 2026 ballot as Measure S.
Who is Judge Skiles?
Skiles, a former Silicon Valley attorney turned Fresno County prosecutor, joined the superior court bench as a commissioner in 2009 and was appointed as a judge in 2010 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the time of his appointment, the governor’s office identified Skiles as a registered Democrat.
Records show Skiles served briefly in the Fresno City Attorney’s Office before joining the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office as a deputy DA in 2005. In 2008 he was named assistant district attorney and joined the Fresno County bench as a commissioner the following year.
Skiles has ruled on several high-profile cases since 2010, including, most recently, concluding that Terance Frazier’s nonprofit sports foundation violated its lease agreement at Granite Park.
Last year, Skiles handed the City of Fresno a major loss in the fight to relocate a Costco on the westside, after determining that the city’s environmental review relied on a flawed 2021 climate action plan that courts had already invalidated a year earlier.
In February 2025, Skiles sided with Fresno City Hall in a dispute with business owners who sued when the city changed parts of Kings Canyon Road, Ventura Street and California Avenue to Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Chavez’s name was removed and the street names changed back earlier this year after credible sexual abuse allegations about Chavez emerged.
Rob Parsons contributed to this report.
