Sheriff Don Barnes was elected the 13th Sheriff-Coroner for Orange County, California in November 2018. He began his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) in 1989. Sheriff Barnes leads the 4,000 sworn and professional men and women who serve in areas as diverse as Patrol Operations, Criminal and Special Investigations, the County’s Crime Lab and Courts, Coroner’s Office, as well as those who serve in Orange County’s five jails that collectively comprise one of the nation’s largest jail systems.
The Sheriff serves as an executive officer with the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA) and serves as the chair of CSSA’s Technology Committee. At the national level, he is chair of the Major County Sheriffs of America’s (MCSA) Intelligence Commander Committee. In that capacity, the Sheriff is working to ensure open communication amongst local, state and federal law enforcement regarding threats like terrorism, drug trafficking and cyberattacks.
Sheriff Barnes has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Masters in Public Administration. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute, USC’s CREATE Program on Counter-Terrorism, the Senior Management Institute for Policing and IACP’s Leadership in Police Organizations. Sheriff Barnes has also been an instructor at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Regional Training Academy and adjunct faculty for the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Management School through California State University, Long Beach.
