Laurie Smith

The Office of the Sheriff for the County of Santa Clara has existed since 1850. The Sheriff holds an elected office, which is voted on by the citizens of the county. The Sheriff is elected to a four year term and he or she may serve additional terms if re-elected by the citizens. The current Sheriff is Laurie Smith, who was elected to office in January of 1999. Sheriff Smith is the twenty-eighth Sheriff of Santa Clara County.

The authority and mandates for the Sheriff to provide law enforcement services can be found in several state and local codes. For instance, the Government Code Sections 26600 - 26602 require the Sheriff to preserve the peace, to make arrests, to prevent unlawful disturbances which come to her attention and to investigate public offenses which have been committed. Also, the Santa Clara County Charter (Section 605) requires the Sheriff to provide the County efficient and effective police protection and to perform all the duties required of her by law.

The Sheriff oversees the entire department. What once was a one-man office has, since 1850, grown into a multi-million dollar operation. Currently, the Sheriff manages a budget of approximately 105 million dollars. The department has approximately 810 employees.

To oversee this multi-million dollar agency, the Sheriff has three appointed management positions: two Commanders and an Administrative Services Bureau Director. One Commander manages the Field Enforcement Bureau, and the other Commander manages the Technical Services Bureau and the Court Services Bureau. The Administrative Services Bureau Director manages the administrative and support staff for all the bureaus.  Together they work with a team approach to manage this very large office.

The Office of the Sheriff's adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2006-2007 is $112,582,007. The Office of the Sheriff Administrative Division consist of the following personnel:

The Sheriff and her executive staff have their offices at the Sheriff's Headquarters Building. Sheriff's Headquarters is located at 55 West Younger Avenue in the City of San Jose.

Sheriff's Headquarters is open Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The mailing address is 55 West Younger Ave., San Jose, CA 95110. The Sheriff's FAX number is (408) 283-0562 and a receptionist can be reached at (408) 808-4900.

E-Mail can be sent to the Sheriff c/o of so.website@sho.co.scl.ca.us
Web Address: www.sccsheriff.org