The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the largest sheriff’s agency in the nation — and is the second largest local law enforcement agency just behind the New York Police Department and the Chicago Police Department. It’s also plagued by problems including a recruitment crisis, complaints of excessive force by deputies and reports of “inhumane” conditions inside the jails, which the department oversees.
Some critics say the department also has a culture problem — exemplified by the presence of so-called “deputy gangs,” whose members allegedly have matching tattoos, defy orders and engage in activities that constitute misconduct. Others say these allegations are little more than urban legends.
Voters must decide whether the current sheriff, Robert Luna, is addressing these and other issues adequately or whether one of his seven challengers would do better. The next sheriff will also help oversee security for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Our limited-run newsletter Make It Make Sense unpacks the ballot count and results, then checks in regularly on officials voted into office and the measures voters pass.
The sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in L.A. County. His or her duties include:
Whenever there is a major news event within county jurisdiction, the sheriff appears at a news conference.
For example, when three deputies were killed after a grenade exploded at a training center, Luna led media briefings on what had happened. The sheriff was also a regular presence on TV during the Palisades and Eaton fires and other natural disasters.
The Sheriff’s Department doesn’t patrol the cities of L.A., Long Beach, Pasadena and several others that have their own police departments.
The sheriff doesn’t determine its own budget — the county Board of Supervisors does that. (The sheriff decides how to spend it.)
The sheriff doesn’t run the medical care system inside the jails. Correctional Health Services does that.
Historically, incumbent sheriffs are hard to beat. But the last two have been voted out of office after one term. Alex Villanueva in 2018 defeated Jim McDonnell, who served one term as sheriff after Lee Baca was sent to federal prison for trying to hamstring an FBI investigation into abuse of jail inmates. McDonnell now leads the LAPD. Villanueva’s single term was also marked by controversy; he was defeated by Luna in 2022 but is running again this year.
The sheriff’s uniform has five stars on the collar. A city police chief’s uniform has four.
The sheriff is the only elected official in the county who wears a badge and carries a gun.
There are 8,703 sworn personnel in the department and 5,431 civilian positions.
The jails: California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in September 2025 alleging unconstitutional, inhumane conditions inside county jails. The lawsuit cites severe filth, rat infestations, lack of clean water, spoiled food, and inadequate medical care and demands comprehensive reforms. Meanwhile, Sheriff Robert Luna has asked the National Institute of Corrections to review conditions inside the jails after an increase in jail deaths. The next sheriff will have to address jail conditions.
Recruitment: Like all law enforcement organizations, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is having a hard time finding new recruits. Deputies are sometimes forced to work overtime shifts because of a shortage of personnel. The next sheriff will have to figure out a way to recruit more deputies while maintaining standards.
Use of force: Communities heavily patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department continue to have concerns about excessive use of force by sheriff’s deputies. People who protested against the presence of federal immigration officers in L.A. last summer complained of sheriff’s deputies using excessive force to break up peaceful demonstrations. The next sheriff will have to address this, as well as incidents involving use of force against people with mental illness.
Deputy gangs: There have long been concerns about subgroups within the Sheriff’s Department marked by deputies who wear matching tattoos. They allegedly engage in misconduct ranging from excessive use of force to planting evidence. A 2021 report by Loyola Law School found 18 deputy gangs had operated in the Sheriff’s Department at one time or another over the past 50 years. The next sheriff will have to figure out how to approach the problem.
Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission: The current sheriff has at times refused to respond to subpoenas by the commission, bucking oversight by the panel. The next sheriff will have to decide how committed they are to transparency and accountability.
The candidate with a majority of votes in the June primary wins. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will face off in a November run-off.
When information is missing
Some candidates did not reply to our requests for images. Some did not have a campaign website and/or list of endorsements available online at the time of publication. We will update this guide as more candidate information becomes available.
Robert Luna
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Frank Stoltze
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LAist
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Robert Luna was elected in 2022 after serving as chief of police in Long Beach for seven years. He grew up in East Los Angeles and holds a master’s degree in public administration from Cal State Long Beach.
Since he became sheriff, violent crime has fallen every year in the areas patrolled by the department, and homicides are down 25% since 2023, according to his website. That’s part of a nationwide trend of declining crime.
But Luna is seeking a second four-year term amid harsh criticism of how he’s operated the jails. The state attorney general has filed a lawsuit claiming unconstitutional and inhumane conditions inside the jails. Human rights activists have complained about conditions inside the jails for years — long before Luna arrived.
Luna has asked for an outside review by the National Institute of Corrections
In his own words
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Mike Bornman
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Courtesy Mike Bornman
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Mike Bornman grew up in Pacoima and spent 36 years with the Sheriff’s Department, serving in a wide range of positions. He was an internal affairs investigator who examined officer-involved shootings and other uses of force. As a captain, he was selected to create and build out the Education Based Incarceration Bureau, which provides education and life skills training to inmates in the jail system.
Bornman holds an associate’s degree in police science, a bachelor’s degree in English writing and a master’s degree in organizational leadership. He has been awarded the Sheriff’s Department’s Exemplary Service Award three times and the Distinguished Service Award another three.
Bornman says that if elected, he would order a “complete 100% forensic audit of every dime spent by the department.”
In his own words
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Karla Carranza
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Courtesy Karla Carranza
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Karla Carranza was born in civil war-era El Salvador, “experiencing the realities of violence at a very young age,” according to her biography. She moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 6 and experienced violence again when she was attacked at age 16 in Lynwood.
“I instinctively fought back, refusing to be a passive victim,” Carranza said in her biography. “This moment would further shape my understanding of crime, fear and the importance of both courage and protection.”
She also lost a younger brother to gang violence.
Carranza graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach and has been with the Sheriff’s Department since 2005. She said she is a strong advocate of community policing.
This is Carranza’s second run for sheriff.
In her own words
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Corbett graduated from Whittier High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree and joined the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department in 1985. He spent 39 years with the agency, serving in patrol, SWAT operations and as assistant sheriff overseeing custody.
Corbett once rescued a person who threatened to jump from a freeway overpass, and he has been awarded three distinguished service medals, according to his website.
He said his priorities are to increase the sheriff’s reserve program to augment overworked deputies, create an inmate release program to help unhoused people and others coming out of jail and to invest in new technology to enhance response times.
In his own words
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Oscar Martinez
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Courtesy Oscar Martinez
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Oscar Martinez is an immigrant who spent eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps — he deployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — before joining the Sheriff’s Department, according to his website.
“His military service shaped his leadership, instilled discipline and reinforced the importance of standing up for others, especially in the most challenging circumstances,” according to the site.
As a sheriff’s deputy, he has served in custody operations, on patrol, in professional standards, in the Public Information Office and as a chief’s executive aide. He is currently a watch commander at the Palmdale station.
He supports allowing federal immigration agents inside L.A. County jails.
In his own words
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Eric Strong
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Courtesy Eric Strong
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Eric Strong spent 30 years with three law enforcement organizations and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
Strong began his career as a police officer in Compton in the early 1990s before moving to the Pasadena Police Department. He joined the Sheriff’s Department in 2000, rising to the rank of lieutenant. In 2023, he was loaned to L.A. County Probation as the department’s chief safety and security officer. He retired in 2025.
Strong has served in numerous capacities as a law enforcement officer, including unit commander over patrol and internal affairs, according to his website. He also graduated from the FBI National Academy.
Strong says he’ll work with the criminal justice system “to create alternatives to incarceration, reduce recidivism and treat everyone with dignity and respect.” This is his second run for sheriff.
In his own words
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Alex Villanueva
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Courtesy Alex Villanueva
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Alex Villanueva was L.A. County sheriff from 2018 to 2022, when he was defeated by Luna. Before that, he’d been a sheriff’s deputy for more than 30 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
Villanueva says as sheriff he led the department to work “hand in hand” with the community to fight crime and that he is running to restore the luster to the department.
His time as sheriff was tumultuous. He clashed regularly with the Board of Supervisors and opened investigations into critics, including a Los Angeles Times reporter who covered the department.
After he left office, Villanueva was placed on a "do not rehire" list following findings by the County Equity Oversight Panel that he violated policies regarding discrimination and harassment during his term. Villanueva denied the allegation.
In his own words
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Andre White
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Andre White
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Andre White was raised in Compton by a single mother and was a child actor who appeared in national commercials, according to his website. By 18, he was a supervisor at Target.
White worked as an EMT before joining the Sheriff’s Department in 2014, where he currently works as a gang detective with Operation Safe Streets.
He would like to increase hiring from “underserved communities to ensure deputies reflect the people they serve,” according to his website.
In his own words
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To see the full list of donors to each campaign, visit the L.A. County Registrar’s campaign finance page. From there, find any candidate’s name and see all their campaign finance disclosure documents, including contributors to campaigns and independent expenditure committees.
Independent or outside committees can raise and spend without limits — but they're barred from coordinating with a candidate. A chart will appear above when any outside committees have spent money to support or oppose a candidate in this race. Updated every Tuesday and Thursday.
You can monitor the Sheriff’s Department by tuning into the monthly Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission meetings. They typically happen on the third Thursday of every month, with locations varying. The commission issues reports on various issues facing the department. Those reports can be found here.
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