San Mateo County supervisors select Gilroy Interim Police Chief Ken Binder as new sheriff following Christina Corpus removal
By Carlos E. Castañeda
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday selected Gilroy Interim Police Chief Ken Binder as sheriff following the dismissal of former Sheriff Christina Corpus.
Binder was selected among three candidates; the other finalists were San Francisco Police Assistant Chief David Lazar and Solano Community College Police Chief Brian Travis.
Binder has spent the majority of his law enforcement career with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, and has also worked as police chief in Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and Saratoga.
San Mateo County supervisors cited his experience working in corrections as a reason they selected him to succeed Corpus, who was removed from office last month. The announcement comes one year to the day since the supervisors released a report from an independent investigator alleging misconduct from Corpus, including allegedly using racial and homophobic slurs to degrade colleagues.
Corpus was dismissed from her position a week after an independent retired judge found multiple causes to remove her following an unprecedented hearing to decide her fate. It was the first time in California history that local supervisors removed a sitting sheriff. The judge issued an opinion concluding that Corpus engaged in conflicts of interest and acts of retaliation, and alleging she used her position to benefit her former chief-of-staff, with whom she has a close personal relationship outside of a working relationship, despite their denials.
The hearing was made possible after voters in March overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment giving supervisors temporary power to remove a sheriff because of misconduct.
After Corpus was removed, she used a county policy to retire, which allowed her to keep her benefits. Corpus has denied all the allegations against her and said she plans to continue battling to clear her name.
The San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s Association on Wednesday issued a statement in favor of the appointment.
“The DSA welcomes Sheriff Binder,” the statement said. “We look forward to working collaboratively with him as we begin rebuilding the agency.”
