Supervisors Propose No-Confidence Vote In Santa Clara Co. Sheriff

SAN JOSE, CA — Two county supervisors are calling on their colleagues to issue a vote of no confidence in Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, county documents show.

Joe Simitian and Susan Ellenberg proposed the other supervisors issue a no-confidence vote at their August 31 meeting, citing "repeated incidents of apparent malfeasance and/or negligence in the County jails" and "alleged ethical violations within the Sheriff's Office."

"We no longer have confidence that Sheriff Laurie Smith is able to faithfully, effectively, and ethically perform the duties of Sheriff," they wrote in a letter attached to the August 31 meeting agenda.

Smith is an elected official and this vote would not remove her from office; however, it would be a strong statement against her leadership amidst questions from county officials as to how the Sheriff's Office runs the jails.

Earlier this month, Simitian and Supervisor Otto Lee asked for public access to documents relating to Andrew Hogan, an inmate who sustained a traumatic brain injury during a jail transfer in 2018.

Simitian and Lee also pointed to two other incidents since 2015 regarding treatment of inmates in county jails. In August of 2015, three correctional officers murdered Michael Tyree, an inmate who was suffering from mental illness. The county paid $3.6 million to Tyree's family after an excessive force lawsuit.

Earlier this year, Juan Martin Nunez, a former inmate, sued the county claiming that in August of 2019, he injured his spine while running head-first into his cell door and was then left in his cell for an extended period of time. Nunez alleged in the lawsuit that correctional officers moved him in a way that worsened his injuries, despite him screaming in pain and telling officers that he might be paralyzed.

The sheriff's office has overseen the majority of jail functions since 2010, supervising more than 700 correctional officers, according to the referral that Simitian and Lee submitted August 17.