BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
After a year of jail deaths and leadership turmoil, San Mateo County Sheriff Ken Binder says he is rebuilding the department – starting with accountability.
Binder has been in office for a month after being appointed by the Board of Supervisors, following Christina Corpus’ firing on Oct. 14 for retaliation and nepotism. Since his first day, he has hit the ground running, working long hours to address working conditions, rebuilding morale and restoring the environment in the sheriff’s office, Binder said.
With a leader who stands for accountability, there is no need for oversight or an inspector general, Binder said.
“I really believe that we’re going to manage the office correctly, that we’re going to work with the public to make sure we meet their standards,” Binder said.
Residents, particularly those in the group called “Fixin’ SMC” have wanted an outside auditor or an inspector general to oversee the sheriff’s office. Calls for sheriff oversight began before Corpus became sheriff, but intensified after the scathing report by retired Judge LaDoris Cordell came out last year.
Cordell was hired by the county to look into HR complaints about Corpus and her then-chief of staff, Victor Aenlle. The jail may be getting an ombudsman, a third-party investigator who will oversee complaints from inmates, families and deputies, Binder said.
Binder has walked the halls of the jails and regularly met with the medical employees to make sure inmates receive access to medical and mental health care to help reduce deaths. Seven inmates died under Corpus’ watch.
Binder said he is working with the unions to set a minimum and maximum number of deputies working in the jail to make sure they are working in safe conditions.
In September, a fight broke out involving 30 inmates at the Maguire Jail, leaving six inmates and four deputies injured, with unions saying the fight was a result of a dangerous staffing shortage.
An audit is underway to make sure was funds are being spent wisely, Binder said. The board decided to oversee Corpus’s budget after the sheriff’s office depleted its budget surplus, going from $36.7 million in fiscal year 2022-23 to $3.2 million in 2024-25. Some of Corpus’s purchases included a $74,000 conference table and two $6,670 massage chairs. She also wanted a $700,000 TV for the conference room, but the expenditure was rejected by county finance officials.
It has crossed his mind to sell the table, but Binder said he wasn’t even sure who would pay that kind of money for it. He said they are now monitoring overtime use and equipment surplus to better manage the budget.
In May, Corpus announced she was implementing a hiring freeze after receiving so many applicants for trainee positions. She stopped hiring new correctional officers and deputy trainees, spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker said at the time.
Binder is now identifying the need for additional deputies before hiring any deputies. Any new hire will be monitored throughout their training to make sure they meet the office’s high standards, Binder said.
Binder said he also wants to hold current deputies to the high professional standard in the courts. Last year, Judges Stephanie Garratt and Elizabeth Lee sent Corpus a letter about problems with sheriff’s employees at the courthouse, including an alleged sexual assault betwen a male and female inmate due to a trainee transporting the inmates incorrectly.
The letter also said that a murder suspect was allowed to wander the back hall, where judges and court employees have offices, while unshackled. The letter pointed out other security lapses. Binder said he’s had a conversation with Garratt about working together moving forward.
“I’m dedicated to public safety and I’m dedicated to making sure that our office does it right,” Binder said. Binder said the sheriff’s office will not cooperate with ICE and deputies will never ask for citizenship status. Any request they have received about inmates from ICE, the sheriff’s office has denied, Binder said.
I do not appreciate that you say you will not cooperate with federal authorities.
What do you mean that you will not cooperate with ICE?! That comment right there says you shouldn’t be in your position either..you need to be replaced as well then
I agree with the above, he needs to cooperate with ICE.
“He said they are now monitoring overtime use and equipment surplus to better manage the budget.”
Right after entering office, both Sheriff and Undersheriff requested new equipment when there was surplus equipment available. Same BS, just different clowns running the circus.
This guy was not elected the citizens of this county. He was appointed by the board. And they are saying they don’t need oversight. What a joke ! Go chase some more bat mobiles accross the country. Or by a residents in Idaho on the SanMateoCounty’s tax dollors.
Ms. Anonymous – Shouldn’t you be utilizing your therapy to fix your person and refrain from trolling the internet? YOU are the one causing detriment to others. Free yourself from your delusional past. No one wants to read your comments.
Kind of hypocritical to say he cares about public safety, then says he will not cooperate with a federal law enforcement agency that is charged with protecting the citizens of the country from criminals.
I’d like to hear more specifics. The SO is known for its “mistaken identity” arrests, where they haul the wrong guy into the jail — only to learn of their error hours or even days later. Since most of the people they arrest are poor, they’re not going to hire a lawyer to sue them. But this happens often enough that a lawyer could cobble together a class-action case that could cost the county millions. Wonder if he knows that and doesn’t want to bring it up, or if nobody has told him. It may not have reached his desk since the inmates are running the asylum.