Sheriff Scott Jones won’t run for reelection, says he’s support internal candidate to replace him

Using the same kind of inter-office memo typically reserved for reminding employees to rinse out their Tupperware, Sheriff Scott Jones announced he won’t be seeking a third term as head of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department when he’s up for election next year.

The bomb-lite announcement didn’t fall out of the clear blue sky. Jones came up short in his first congressional bid last year, but some think the Republican lawman would prefer taking another stab at Rep. Ami Bera’s battleground seat over returning to an agency increasingly under the microscope since the election of Donald Trump.

Jones was catapulted to political prominence following the ambush murder of one of his officers, allegedly perpetrated by an undocumented fugitive who had been deported numerous times before Deputy Danny Oliver approached his vehicle in a motel parking lot in October 2014. Prior to announcing his candidacy last year, the sheriff was flying regularly to Washington, D.C., to meet with elected representatives.

Closer to home, Jones has watched his political alliances fray over his agency’s ongoing partnership with federal immigration authorities. The department has also been getting beaten up by liability claims, losing a $6.9 million judgment last spring, after a jury sided with four female deputies who said they faced retaliation after raising concerns about discrimination and improper relationships.

Coincidentally, Jones’ announcement came the same day that Trump indicated he would pardon former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

In his inter-department correspondence, Jones highlighted his talent for finding outside grant funding and for modernizing the department, which is about to begin construction on a $89 million renovation project at its Elk Grove jail. The letter doesn’t mention Jone’s most famous campaign promise, which he kept, of making it easier for residents to obtain permits to carry concealed firearms. Nearly 8,500 such permits were granted in a five-year span.

“Working for the Sheriff’s Department, especially for the last seven years as Sheriff, is the privilege of a lifetime,” Jones wrote in his August 25 letter to employees. “I have been honored to be able to develop my vision for the Department, and part of that responsibility must be for me to step aside and allow someone else’s vision to continue our upward trajectory. I have every confidence that the individual I have chosen to support within our organization has the experience, skills, and dedication necessary to do just that.”

The letter didn’t name Jones’ preferred successor.