Opinion ID: 2583901
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Peters

Text: As noted, Pitts involved the question whether district attorneys were state agents when investigating and prosecuting crime, or when training staff and developing policy involving such matters. Peters, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th 1166, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 860, applied Pitts's analysis and extended it to California sheriffs, concluding that in setting policies concerning the release of persons from the county jail, the sheriff acts as a state officer performing state law enforcement duties. Although Peters did not consider whether a sheriff acts as a state or county officer when, as here, investigating criminal activity, Peters's reasoning would clearly apply to the present case. The plaintiff in Peters brought a civil rights action under section 1983 alleging that the sheriff and his deputies, relying on an inapposite arrest warrant, improperly detained her in county jail after she had posted bail. Peters applied the McMillian/Pitts analysis to determine whether a California sheriff acts as a state or county officer in setting policies governing release of prisoners from the county jail. Peters found Pitts to be controlling, noting that the same constitutional and statutory provisions governing district attorneys considered in Pitts also apply to sheriffs. ( Peters, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1170, 1174-1175, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 860.) For example, article V, section 13 of the California Constitution provides that subject to the powers and duties of the Governor, [t]he Attorney General shall have direct supervision over every district attorney and sheriff and over such other law enforcement officers as may be designated by law, in all matters pertaining to the duties of their respective offices, and may require any of said officers to make reports concerning the investigation, detection, prosecution, and punishment of crime in their respective jurisdictions as the Attorney General may seem advisable. (Italics added.) Similarly, Government Code section 12560, which relates to sheriffs, is substantially identical to Government Code section 12550, which relates to district attorneys and was relied on in Pitts. Section 12560 gives the Attorney General direct supervision of all sheriffs, with power to order reports concerning the investigation, detection and punishment of crime in their respective jurisdictions, and to direct their activities regarding these investigations. Peters also cited Government Code sections 26600 (sheriffs' duty to preserve the peace through crime prevention projects), 26601 (sheriffs' authority to arrest criminal offenders), and 26602 (sheriffs' duty to prevent breaches of peace and investigate public offenses). Like Pitts, the court in Peters found all these provisions instructive on the issue whether a sheriff acts as a state or county agent in establishing policies for the release of arrestees from jail. ( Peters, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1174-1175, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 860.) In addition, Peters pointed out that, as in Pitts with respect to district attorneys, the county board of supervisors has no direct control over a sheriff's performance of law enforcement functions. Government Code section 25303, upon which Pitts relied for this proposition, applies to both offices. Among other things, that section reaffirms the independent and constitutionally and statutorily designated investigative and prosecutorial functions of the sheriff and district attorney of a county. The board of supervisors shall not obstruct the investigative function of the sheriff of the county nor shall it obstruct the investigative and prosecutorial function of the district attorney of a county. [ถ] Nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit the budgetary authority of the board of supervisors over the district attorney or sheriff. (Gov.Code, ง 25303, italics added; see Peters, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at p. 1175, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 860.) As in Pitts, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pages 360-361, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 823, 949 P.2d 920, Peters acknowledged that other constitutional and statutory provisions tended to support a theory of county agency. For example, article XI, sections 1, subdivision (b), and 4, subdivision (c), of the state Constitution provide for an elected sheriff in each county, and Government Code section 24000 includes sheriffs within the general category of county officers. But as in Pitts, Peters concluded that these provisions were outweighed by those supporting the argument that sheriffs are not policy makers for the county board of supervisors but are functionally independent of county control when performing their law enforcement functions. ( Peters, supra, 68 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1176-1177, 80 Cal.Rptr.2d 860.)