Sanford To Depart Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department

Sonora, CA — Undersheriff Lee Sanford will retire from the Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Department effective July 6.

Label it two men agreeing to disagree on a vision for the Sheriff´s Department. That said, Sheriff Jim Mele announced today that Sanford will retire in July.

To quote Mele who is out of town on business; “We have both engaged in many recent discussions and agree that Mr. Sanford does not fit into my vision of the agency´s future. Let me be clear that we have great professional respect for each other. It is simply that our views do not follow the same paths and the ability to move forward constructively would be greatly hindered if we continued to try to work together for the good of all.”

Mele added, “I concur with the freezing of the Undersheriff position throughout FY 2007/2008 and look forward to the opportunity to fill the Undersheriff position as an “at will” position in FY 2008/09.”

Written by Bill Johnson