Bill Kolender
became the 28th Sheriff of San Diego County on January 2,
1995, and he has been reelected three times. His fourth term will
begin in January 2007 and continue until January 2011. He currently
provides leadership to 4,000 employees, including sworn and civilian
support personnel, and he oversees a budget of approximately $524
million. The Sheriff is responsible for three main services-–law
enforcement, detentions, and courts. The Sheriff’s Department provides
law enforcement to the unincorporated areas of the County, as well as to
nine contract cities. There are seven detention facilities operated by
the Sheriff and eleven separate court facilities.
Kolender has been a
career law enforcement professional, serving as Sheriff of the County of
San Diego since 1995 and for 13 years as the Chief of the San Diego
Police Department. He was appointed Chief at the age of 40—one of the
youngest big city police chiefs in the nation—and retired in 1988.
Prior to his election
to the Office of Sheriff, Kolender served as the Director of the
California Youth Authority (CYA), an appointment made by Governor Pete
Wilson on September 23, 1991. The California Youth Authority is the
largest youth correctional agency in the nation. Prior to his
appointment as Director of the Youth Authority, Kolender served as
Assistant to the Publisher of the Union-Tribune Publishing Company,
which publishes the San Diego Union-Tribune in California’s second
largest city.
Sheriff Kolender’s
state-wide activities include: appointee of the Governor to the
California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
Commission and San Diego Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. He
represents California on the Western States Information Network (WSIN)
Board of Directors, along with the State Attorney General. He is the
immediate past
President of the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA), a
lifetime member of CSSA
and serves as a member
of the National Executive Institute.
Sheriff Kolender is an
active member of or on the Board of Directors of several
community-based, law enforcement and charitable organizations, such as
the San Diego County Police Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Association and
Training & Education for Retarded Individuals (TERI).
Over the course of his
career, Kolender served as appointee of the Governor on the California
Board of Corrections, two terms for the Governor as a Commissioner on
the State of California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST), serving as Chair for the year 2001-02; board member of
the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) past president
of the Major City Police Chiefs’ Association; Chairman of the Task Force
that integrated the San Diego City Schools; past president of the San
Diego Police Officers’ Association; and the California Council on
Criminal Justice (CCCJ), among others. He also served for eight years
on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and as their
president.
Kolender has received
many honors over the years, including: The 2006 Lifetime Achievement
Award presented by the San Diego Police Historical Association; the 2004
Courageous Leadership Award by the San Diego Regional Chamber of
Commerce; the prestigious John M. Penrith Award for “Excellence in Law
Enforcement Administration,” given by the alumni and foundation of the
National Executive Institute in June 1999; the Neil Morgan Award by LEAD
San Diego in May 1999 for exemplary leadership; “Outstanding Alumnus”
from San Diego State University in 1985; the Urban League’s “Equal
Opportunity Award” in 1981; the Golden Man and Boy Award in 1984; and
the “Diogenes Award for Truth and Honesty in Government” from the San
Diego Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America in 1978.
Kolender, a native of
Chicago, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Affairs and Public
Administration from San Diego State University in 1964. He and his
wife, Lois, have four children: Michael, Jodi, Randie and Dennis.
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