Kelly Martinez

Strategies 360 Inc. — Seattle political consultancy. Single $34,000 payment from Martinez committee (largest single vendor expenditure). Classification POL.

Uplift Campaigns — Berkeley digital ad / web vendor. $30,000 across 3 transactions (display ad buy + sub-vendor coordination via Schedule G).

DSA SD 2022 IRS 990 shows $3.26M expenses on $3.17M revenue — a $93K deficit-spend year and $266K above the 2021 baseline. The Martinez sheriff primary/general was the dominant DSA political fight of 2022 (no other county-wide LE race of comparable salience). The $25K Democratic-Party-endorsement-whip IE (already documented, evidence 24416) accounts for ~10% of the 2022 expense lift. The remaining $241K-$432K is unaccounted for at the 990 line-item level and warrants Schedule O / Schedule C inspection. Lower bound on DSA's 2022 Martinez-cycle spend = $25K (the documented IE). Upper bound on DSA's 2022 total political/election spend lift = ~$432K. The pattern (deficit-spend year coincident with endorsed candidate's race) is itself a coordination signal even before transaction-level IE data is recovered.

Deputy Sheriffs' Association of SD County PAC committed $25,000 in independent expenditure to hire Democratic "whips" to push SDCDP endorsement of Martinez over Dave Myers. Note: NO direct contributions to Martinez 460 committee on Schedule A — DSA spending occurred outside her committee.

Deputy Sheriffs Association of San Diego County PAC endorsed Martinez for Sheriff and spent $25,000 hiring Democratic Party whips to steer San Diego County Dem Party toward endorsing Martinez over rival Dave Myers in 2022 primary season.

The Gemini Group / Jennifer Tierney — VA-based vendor. $24,497.99 across 9 transactions including campaign election-night dinner with candidate, spouse + 9 supporters at $11/8/22.

KM Strategies Inc. — top SD-based consulting vendor for Martinez 2022 campaign. $23,878.16 across 24 transactions. Categories CNS (consulting), OFC (office), POS (postage).

SDCDP party transfer (Schedule B / Form 497 monetary) to Kelly Martinez for Sheriff 2022 across three transactions: $10,500 (10/12/2022), $6,500 (10/04/2022), $4,000 (10/19/2022). Source: Cal-Access Sched B/Late-Made for SDCDP filer 1018460, session 2021.

SD County Democratic Party only itemized PAC/party donor on Martinez Schedule A — $21,000 cumulative across multiple Form 460s. Net party support ~$5,300 after Martinez paid SDCDP $15,700 for slate/coordinated mailings.

SDCDP non-monetary in-kind support to Kelly Martinez for Sheriff 2022 — 16 separate transactions totaling $15,652.91 (mailers, postage, member communications). Per Cal-Access SDCDP Schedule B for filer 1018460. This in-kind support was hidden from Martinez Schedule A summary and adds 75% above the previously known $21K cash transfer.

Wellpath (privatized correctional healthcare vendor — direct competitor to NaphCare) gave Sheriff Kelly Martinez disclosed gifts in 2024 and 2025 at California State Sheriffs' Association (CSSA) Board of Directors Conferences. 2024: $25 reception (2/21/24) + $37.50 reception (4/10/24) + attached items totaling ~$50.90. 2025: $50 CSSA Opening Ceremony reception (2/26/25) + $40.76 CSSA Board Dinner (2/27/25). All under FPPC reporting thresholds individually but show ongoing relationship between Sheriff and a vendor competing for the same correctional healthcare market NaphCare currently holds in SD County.

Aramark Correctional Services (jail food vendor) gave Sheriff Martinez 2025 CSSA Board Dinners ($40.76 on 2/27/25 + $30.61 on 12/11/25).

Peregrine Technologies (LE data integration platform vendor) gave Sheriff Martinez 2025 CSSA Board Dinners ($40.76 on 2/27/25 + $30.61 on 12/11/25).

AT&T-FirstNet (LE communications vendor) gave Sheriff Martinez reception refreshments ($52.63 on 10/16/24) and dinner ($18.31 on 10/17/24).

Sheriff Martinez declined to attend BSCC ICDR Director Ganter's Dec 14, 2024 Escondido listening session with families of seven SD jail death victims, and issued a public written statement opposing the SB 519 program: "will not serve to make the jails safer." Connection_type "publicly-opposed". (per NBC 7 SD)

SDCCSA (command-level chiefs/sheriff/DA/federal-LE association) endorsed Kelly Martinez for Sheriff in the 2022 primary cycle. Endorsement listed on her campaign endorsements page (kellymartinezforsheriff.com/endorsements) and corroborated by Patch profile (evidence 24616). SDCCSA membership includes ICE-ERO and CBP — the same federal agencies whose transfer protocols Martinez now defends against the BOS January 2026 ordinance. The command-level endorsement is the institutional bookend to the rank-and-file DSA endorsement (which spent $25,000 IE in the same primary, per La Prensa evidence 24416).

Sheriff Kelly Martinez is a current SDCCSA member representing the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, per the SDCCSA public roster (sdccsa.net, retrieved May 2026). She sits at the same monthly chiefs table as ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations (Daniel Brightman), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Sidney Aki), U.S. Border Patrol (Justin De La Torre), Homeland Security Investigations (Kevin Murphy), and FBI (Mark Dargis). The shared-table relationship is the institutional context for her TRUTH Act stance.

Deputy Sheriffs' Association of San Diego County (DSA, rank-and-file deputy union) endorsed Kelly Martinez for Sheriff 2022 — per Patch profile (evidence 24616). DSA spent $25,000 in independent expenditures to sway the SD County Democratic Party endorsement to Martinez (La Prensa, evidence 24416). This endorsement is the rank-and-file half of a complete law-enforcement-establishment endorsement bloc; the command-level half is SDCCSA. Lane B is tracing the IE money mechanics.

NaphCare ~$620M 10-yr SD County jail healthcare contract (ev 24634) started June 1, 2022 — within 6 days of the June 7, 2022 Sheriff primary that Martinez (D) won as the front-runner Undersheriff. Procurement timeline: Aug 4, 2020 BOS Item 1 authorized the RFI/RFP under Sheriff Gore in a 4-1 vote with Fletcher NO (ev 24617, 25708). Martinez became Undersheriff Feb 2021 (ev 200595) — within the RFP execution window — and announced sheriff candidacy Aug 2021 (Lane B R7 timeline, lead 1991). Contract execution thus coincided with both her electoral peak and her departmental authority over jail medical, locking in the incumbent vendor through her first elected term and the 5-year option (through 2032).

Sheriff Martinez's 2025 ask to BOS for "potentially billions" to build new Vista jail and upgrade detention facilities (ev 872, SDUT 12/7/2025) operates as a leverage-multiplier for incumbent jail-medical vendor NaphCare ($620M 10-yr contract, ev 24634). New jail capacity = larger NaphCare operating footprint at ~$62M/yr baseline + scaling. Parallel pattern: Martinez has publicly argued (ev 24604, 24605, R6 Lane C) that expanding CLERB oversight would drive NaphCare subcontractor Liberty Healthcare out of SD County — defending incumbent vendor against transparency. Nov 2023 BOS approved $1.5M to study capital-improvement scenarios. Pattern: Sheriff's capital-bond and contractor-defense advocacy converge on protecting & expanding the NaphCare/Liberty contractor regime.

Sheriff Martinez explicitly rejected SD County BOS policy authority over ICE-transfer practice. At March 25, 2026 TRUTH Act forum (ev 25863) Martinez stated verbatim "As sheriff, I set the policy of our detention facilities" — repudiating the December 2024 BOS policy ending county-resource use for ICE enforcement AND the January 2026 BOS ordinance requiring judicial warrants for ICE arrests on county property (ev 179803). ICE transfers nearly tripled in 2025 (83 vs 30 in 2024 — 2.77×). Pattern: campaign-era endorsements from SDIRC-counterparty progressive coalitions (Lawson-Remer, Atkins, Gloria, ev 25859) were unwound in office by explicit sovereignty assertion against the same elected body that approved the NaphCare contract Martinez inherited.

San Diego County Republican Party endorsed John Hemmerling (R) against Kelly Martinez (D) in 2022 sheriff race. Per Times of San Diego June 7, 2022 (evidence 25881). The endorsement put SD GOP machinery into the race against Martinez, but Hemmerling lost the November general. The SD GOP endorsement of Hemmerling forms the "Republican Party + Faulconer-mayoral-legacy + former-SDPD-leadership" bloc that was the structural counterweight to Martinez's combined DSA SD + SDCGO + SDCCSA + crossover-D-elected-officials coalition.

California Republican Party endorsed John Hemmerling against Kelly Martinez in 2022 sheriff race. Per Times of San Diego June 7, 2022 (evidence 25881). State-level GOP machinery weighed in for Hemmerling; cross-checks Hemmerling's GOP profile against Martinez's December 2022 party re-registration from R to D.

Former Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorsed John Hemmerling for sheriff against Kelly Martinez (per Times of San Diego June 7, 2022 — evidence 25881). Connection_type "endorsement" here documents Faulconer's public endorsement of Hemmerling, which is the relationship most consequential for understanding the GOP-aligned LE-establishment bloc that opposed Martinez. The Faulconer + Goldsmith + Zimmerman (all former San Diego CITY officials) trio is notable — Martinez's opposing endorsement bloc was anchored in former San Diego CITY leadership, while her own bloc was anchored in COUNTY-level (Fletcher, Gloria, Atkins, Gonzalez, Vargas).

SDCGO PAC (FPPC ID 1379388) spent on Kelly Martinez 2022 sheriff race — exact amount UNDISCLOSED. Michael Schwartz (SDCGO ED) publicly claimed PAC played "big part" in Martinez primary trouncing of rivals (Times of San Diego June 7, 2022 — evidence 25881; evidence 24416 documents the parallel DSA $25K Dem-party-whip spend). Schwartz: "I know we had a big part" + boots-on-the-ground + communication-network statements. Dollar amount intentionally not disclosed. FPPC ID 1379388 is the lookup key for full F460/F461/F496 retrieval once Cal-Access access is restored.

NEGATIVE FINDING: PORAC FEDPAC (FEC C00302208, treasurer Gary Terrell) reported ZERO disbursements for 2022 two-year transaction period (FEC OpenFEC API verified 2026-05-16, evidence 25878). Statewide POA umbrella money — at least the federally-disclosed slice — did NOT flow to Kelly Martinez or against any SD sheriff candidate in 2022. State-only PORAC PAC activity remains unverified due to Cal-Access bot-block. The federal zero confirms the Martinez race was driven by LOCAL LE PACs (DSA SD, SDCGO, SDCCSA endorsement) rather than statewide POA infrastructure.

DSA San Diego granted PAC endorsement to Kelly Martinez after her written endorsement questionnaire — questionnaire is silent on ICE/SB54, NaphCare/jail-healthcare contractor model, and CLERB. The DSA endorsement was the basis for the $25K independent expenditure DSA spent in March 2022 to sway the SD County Democratic Party endorsement (per La Prensa 2022). Connection establishes that primary law-enforcement donor union backed Martinez without obtaining written commitments on the issues that now define her tenure.

Sheriff Martinez publicly defended NaphCare against expanded CLERB civilian oversight: March 11, 2025 memo to SD County BOS warned the expansion would "result in a severe lack of appropriate medical care for a high-risk and vulnerable population" and disclosed that NaphCare and Correctional Healthcare Partners had told the county they "could potentially end their contract … or if they moved forward, they would have to mitigate risk to their operations by substantially increasing their costs." Martinez then opposed the BOS Sept 9, 2025 vote in person, saying "This ordinance is unprecedented and has not been done anywhere in the country." BOS voted 4-1 to expand CLERB anyway, with only Jim Desmond joining Martinez's position. Establishes Sheriff is structurally aligned with the contractor against the BOS-majority reform.

Sheriff Martinez publicly opposed expanding CLERB (Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board) jurisdiction to investigate jail medical and mental health providers in custody-death cases. Via the March 11, 2025 memo and Sept 9, 2025 BOS testimony, Martinez argued review-oriented oversight would damage care delivery. BOS voted 4-1 to expand CLERB authority over her objection. This is the most concrete documented instance of Martinez opposing strengthened civilian oversight — directly contradicting the implied "more accountable than Gore" framing of her 2022 campaign.

Kelly Martinez sworn in as elected Sheriff of San Diego County on December 5, 2022, after winning the June 7, 2022 primary outright and the November 8, 2022 general election. Per her March 24, 2026 TRUTH Act forum statement: "I set the policy of our detention facilities." Under her tenure, SDSO ICE transfers rose from 30 (CY2024) to 83 (CY2025) — a 2.77x year-over-year increase. SDSO has refused to adopt the BOS December 2024 Sanctuary Policy (L-2) requiring judicial warrants before ICE cooperation, per ACLU-SDIC and Supervisor Montgomery Steppe. This connection records her authority and policy ownership, supporting the "promise vs practice" thesis.

Dem-establishment crossover bloc: Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (pol 44), Mayor Todd Gloria (pol 1), Supervisor Nathan Fletcher (pol 13), U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas (pol 18), and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez endorsed Kelly Martinez for sheriff in 2022 — DEFYING the formal SDCDP endorsement of Dave Myers in Dec 2021 (ev 25882). This crossover ran in parallel with DSA SD's $25K whip IE (ev 24416) attempting to flip the party endorsement itself; while the institutional flip failed, the top-tier officeholder crossover delivered functionally equivalent elite consensus. Connection captures Atkins → Martinez as the senior member of the crossover bloc; companion connections needed for Gloria, Fletcher, Vargas, Gonzalez (Gonzalez not in DB).

Mayor Todd Gloria endorsed Kelly Martinez for sheriff 2022 as part of the Dem-establishment crossover bloc defying SDCDP's Dec 2021 endorsement of Dave Myers (ev 25882, 25859). See companion connections for Atkins (44), Fletcher (13), Vargas (18).

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher endorsed Kelly Martinez for sheriff 2022 as part of the Dem-establishment crossover bloc defying SDCDP's Dec 2021 endorsement of Dave Myers (ev 25882, 25859). Notable: Fletcher was the sole NO vote on Aug 4 2020 BOS Item 1 (NaphCare RFP authorization, ev 24617, 25708) yet endorsed Martinez who became the inheriting Sheriff of that contract. See companion connections for Atkins (44), Gloria (1), Vargas (18).

U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas endorsed Kelly Martinez for sheriff 2022 as part of the Dem-establishment crossover bloc defying SDCDP's Dec 2021 endorsement of Dave Myers (ev 25882, 25859). See companion connections for Atkins (44), Gloria (1), Fletcher (13).

Kelly Martinez is the elected Sheriff of San Diego County (sworn in Jan 9, 2023). As Sheriff she sets department policy on ICE notifications and transfers under SB 54; per her own Mar 25, 2026 TRUTH Act forum statement (evidence 25863) "I set the policy of our detention facilities." She is the responsible policymaker for the 25→30→83 CY2023-2025 ICE transfer escalation and for the Dec 10, 2024 refusal to follow the more restrictive BOS sanctuary ordinance.

Public policy disagreement and record-keeping dispute. Vargas (BOS Chair) sponsored the Dec 10 2024 sanctuary ordinance (3-1, Vargas+Lawson-Remer+Montgomery Steppe yes); Martinez announced same-day she would not adopt it as binding department policy. Days after the vote, Vargas resigned despite winning re-election, citing threats to her safety; the Times of San Diego op-ed (Mar 15 2025) reports "Martinez's office maintains they have no record of Vargas reporting threats against her" — a public record-keeping dispute between the resigning Chair and the Sheriff's Department over whether threat reports were made.

Policy disagreement: Lawson-Remer (Vice Chair, yes vote) co-sponsored the Dec 10 2024 sanctuary ordinance Martinez refused to follow as binding department policy.

Policy disagreement: Montgomery Steppe (yes vote on Dec 10 2024 sanctuary ordinance) is part of the BOS majority whose policy Martinez refused to bind to her department.

Policy alignment with Sheriff: Desmond cast the sole no vote on the Dec 10 2024 sanctuary ordinance and (per evidence 878) led the Mar 11 2025 reconsideration attempt that failed 2-1-1. Desmond's political posture on ICE matches Sheriff Martinez's operational refusal to adopt the BOS policy.

San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board declined to endorse Kelly Martinez in the 2022 Sheriff race (primary AND general). May 20 primary endorsement went to John Hemmerling; May 25 endorsement was rescinded due to Hemmerling's anti-trans remarks; U-T explicitly issued NO replacement endorsement, citing on-the-record concerns that Martinez was running at Gore's request and that jail deaths had increased during her tenure as undersheriff.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez sent a formal memo to the SD County Board of Supervisors dated July 29, 2025 opposing the proposed expansion of CLERB jurisdiction over Sheriff's Department operations. Memo title (per CLERB EO file): "Delay Expanded CLERB Oversight to Continue Jail Improvement Momentum and Avoid Potential for Medical Care Liability." On Sept 9, 2025 the BOS adopted the expansion ordinance (File 25-474) 4-1 over Martinez's objection.

Wellpath PAC (FEC C00568881) operates a structural "sheriff candidate as donor class" giving pattern: 26 disbursements in 2022 cycle to TX/TN/GA/VA sheriff candidates (Labat for Sheriff $3,500 GA; Henderson Campaign $1,000 TX; Keybo Taylor Sheriff $2,000 GA), with zero California federal recipients across 2022/2024/2026. Martinez is the SD County sheriff at whose jails Wellpath holds the mental-health subcontract (Liberty Healthcare being a Wellpath subsidiary). The federal-channel absence in CA combined with the SD County Levine Act dataset reporting zero Wellpath disclosures (ev 25867) triangulates a disclosure-evasion pattern — Wellpath gives where it can be tracked, except in the jurisdiction where the contract risk is highest.

Aramark Services Inc PAC (FEC C00157677, "ARAMARK PAC") has zero California federal-PAC recipients across 2022/2024/2026 cycles per FEC Schedule B query, despite Aramark Correctional Services being SDSO's active jail-food vendor and gifting Sheriff Martinez at CSSA 2025 (existing conn 179983 — $71.37 in two reception dinners). Combined with zero entries for Aramark in the SD County Levine Act dataset (ev 25867), the contract relationship is documented but the cash-flow channel to county officials is structurally invisible to both federal disclosure and the SB 1439-expanded California §84308 disclosure regime.

NaphCare Inc PAC (FEC C00791152) is a low-activity federal PAC: 3 disbursements in 2022 (all Manchin-WV: $5K Country Roads PAC + $5K total Manchin for West Virginia), 0 in 2024, 2 in 2026 ($5K total Barry Moore U.S. Senate AL). Zero California federal recipients. NaphCare holds the ~$620M 10-year SD County jail-health contract (conn 200609), executed Jun 1 2022. The federal-channel absence in CA combined with zero NaphCare disclosures in SD County's Levine Act dataset (ev 25867) means the only documented NaphCare→SD politician dollar is the McLane→Hueso 2020 individual giving ($1,000, conn 173515 / ev EV-G). All other money flow at corporation level operates outside the disclosure regime.

Anderson for Supervisor 2020 (the Cal-Access committee mapped to organizations.id=9101) — Joel Anderson's campaign vehicle — anchored the May 15, 2026 press conference opposing Lawson-Remer's charter reform (ev 25490). Anderson's committee raised $315,741.40 from 735 individual donors plus $54,479.16 from the SD County Republican Party (existing conns 173145 + 173121); the Lincoln Club of SD County created the "North County Leadership Council" IE committee to defend Anderson's D5 seat against Boyd-Hodgson in 2022 (conn 3140), and Lincoln Club is an active SD-politics donor (conn 178620 $36K to Whitburn/Fairness PAC). Anderson's donor base is the structural counterweight to the SDCDP-Lawson-Remer charter coalition. By appearing with Martinez at the May 15 presser, Anderson's committee signals to its donor base that the Sheriff's office is structurally aligned with the Republican-business coalition opposing reform — a substantive politicization of the Sheriff's role.

HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. is the CEQA consultant preparing the Vista Detention and Re-Entry Facility EIR (County Project 1026161). Identified via signature page and figure logos on the Dec 1, 2025 Notice of Preparation issued by County DGS Director Marko Medved (ev EV-E). HELIX's authoring of the EIR is the downstream deliverable from the broader $1.5M Detention Facility Strategic Framework Plan that Sheriff Martinez requested and the BOS approved Nov 7, 2023 (ev 872 + ev EV-F). HELIX is part of the sheriff-vendor stack now embedded in the Vista jail rebuild pipeline — the $600M-$1.2B project that anchors the public-safety bond measure being market-tested via Southwest Strategies' $383K polling contract (conn 3070, with Amplify Campaigns attached). Procurement-trail relevance: the EIR contract typically follows a separate award process from the SFP study contract; CPRA (lead 2006-sibling) needed to surface scoring, bidders, and conflict-of-interest declarations.

Sheriff Martinez named in official capacity as lead defendant in Dunsmore class action over jail conditions (S.D. Cal., 3:20-cv-00406-AJB-DDL); federal-court injunctive monitoring binds her department.

Sheriff Martinez named individually + official capacity in Yates wrongful-death suit (3:24-cv-00410); court denied qualified immunity Aug 21 2025.

Sheriff Martinez named in Rupard wrongful-death suit (3:23-cv-01357) re. starvation/dehydration death; Judge Bencivengo denied MTD 2023.

Sheriff Martinez sued in official capacity in Shilling 1A/2A CCW-revocation case (3:24-cv-01047); dismissed on 11th Amendment immunity Oct 2024.

SDSO's ~$620M NaphCare contract is the subject of County's Sept 18 2025 crossclaim in Yates jail-death suit — County attempting to shift liability to its own jail medical contractor.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez sits on the SANDAG Chiefs/Sheriff Management Committee, which meets the first Wednesday of every month at 9:45 a.m. and approves the annual work program and budget for the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) and Criminal Justice Research. This is the formal post-endorsement co-governance body in which the sheriff and the SDCCSA-member chiefs who endorsed her in 2022 jointly approve the regional law-enforcement data system. 2026 Chair: Chief Alex Hernandez (NCPD); Vice Chair: AC Dan Peak (CVPD). Evidence 25962.

Then-Undersheriff Kelly Martinez stood with SDPD Chief David Nisleit, CVPD Chief Roxana Kennedy, and DA Summer Stephan at the April 13, 2022 SDCCSA news conference announcing the countywide Officer-Involved Shooting cross-investigation MOU (effective May 1, 2022). Nisleit's SDPD endorsed Martinez through the SDCCSA bloc within weeks of this joint signing. Evidence 25961.

Roxana Kennedy (CVPD Chief; SDCCSA President 2026) signed the April 13, 2022 OIS cross-investigation MOU alongside then-Undersheriff Martinez. Kennedy and Martinez also issued coordinated public statements on November 1, 2024 for election-security coverage of the Nov 5, 2024 election (Sheriff's news release + KPBS Nov 4, 2024). Two-event pattern: same MOU table → same election-security stage. Evidence 25961, 25963.

Scott Wahl became SDPD Chief on May 13, 2024 (unanimous City Council confirmation) succeeding Nisleit. Continued SDPD participation at SDCCSA monthly meetings alongside Sheriff Martinez; inherits SDPD's role as signatory to the OIS MOU. Evidence 25970.

Chief Alex Hernandez (NCPD) chairs the SANDAG Chiefs/Sheriff Management Committee where Sheriff Martinez sits monthly; the committee jointly approves the ARJIS work program and budget. Evidence 25962.

AC Dan Peak (CVPD) is Vice Chair of the SANDAG Chiefs/Sheriff Management Committee on which Sheriff Martinez sits. Evidence 25962.

Daniel Brightman (ICE-ERO San Diego Field Office Director) sits at the SDCCSA monthly chiefs table with Sheriff Martinez. Brightman's agency is the receiving end of the jail-to-ICE transfers Martinez has continued to authorize despite the December 2024 BOS super-sanctuary ordinance (83 transfers in 2025, ~3x the prior year). Evidence 25862 (existing), 25966.

Sidney Aki (CBP San Diego Field Office Director) sits at the SDCCSA monthly chiefs table with Sheriff Martinez. Evidence 25862 (existing).

Chief Probation Officer Tamika Nelson sits at the SDCCSA monthly chiefs table and at the SANDAG Chiefs/Sheriff Management Committee alongside Sheriff Martinez. Evidence 25862, 25962.

DA Summer Stephan co-announced the April 13, 2022 OIS cross-investigation MOU with then-Undersheriff Martinez, Chief Nisleit (SDPD), and Chief Kennedy (CVPD). Stephan's office reviews every completed OIS investigation under the MOU. Stephan also sits at the SDCCSA monthly table and on the SANDAG Chiefs/Sheriff Management Committee. Sustained 2022–present institutional partnership. Evidence 25961, 25962.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez (politician 72) is the appointing authority for Asst. Sheriff Dustin Lopez. California Assistant Sheriffs are command-staff serving at the pleasure of the elected Sheriff (SDSO command-staff convention; not classified civil service). Lopez's defense of SDSO's jail-death study data refusal at CLERB May 7, 2026 (ev 24609) is therefore the policy of Sheriff Martinez expressed by her direct appointee — not an independent administrator deviating from the Sheriff's position.

As elected Sheriff, Martinez is the policy-setting officer responsible for SDSO's §7284.6(c) reporting to the California Attorney General. Martinez has publicly asserted (Mar 25 2026 TRUTH Act forum, ev 25863) that she alone sets the policy of SDSO detention facilities — therefore her name attaches to any reporting failure or disclosure misrepresentation in SDSO's submission to OAG. The OAG dataset (ev 26110 memo) is the only legally authoritative external cross-check on Martinez's self-reported transfer counts.

Martinez as elected Sheriff is the responsible agency head for SDSO's AB 268 compliance under Penal Code §6030. BSCC's 9-month rulemaking slip (statutory effective date July 1, 2024 → actual effective April 1, 2025, ev 25852) plus self-granted enforcement amnesty through FY 2025-26 (ev 25844) creates a 24-month enforcement-free window directly overlapping the period in which SDSO's three largest jail-death/conditions exposures are resolving in federal court: $16M Schuck (Oct 29 2025, ev 25953), $15M Serna (July 2 2024, ev 25955), and Dunsmore class certification (Nov 3 2023, ev 25949). The BSCC delay functionally shields Martinez from statutory accountability during the exact period the civil-rights bar is most active. Lane B R10 anchors this for the structural-protection narrative.

PORAC PAC — LE-association coalition member; Edgewater Strategies (Martinez consultant pool per ev 26850) services PORAC retainer. Structural coalition membership.

Joined SDSO as deputy 1985; sergeant 2007; assistant sheriff 2017; Undersheriff Feb 2021; elected 31st Sheriff Nov 2022, sworn in Dec 16, 2022; took office Jan 2, 2023.

San Diego Police Officers Association — LE-association coalition member; SDPOA Sheriff-candidate endorsement is structural for SDSO incumbent. Documented in 5/15 alliance frame (ev 25490, 25938).

Sheriff Martinez transfers SD County jail inmates to ICE custody under SB 54 narrow exceptions. Transfers nearly tripled in 2025 (83 vs 30 in 2024). Refused to follow Dec 2024 Board policy requiring judicial warrants; immigrant-rights groups argue refusal may violate SB 54.

Public refusal to comply with Dec 2024 Board policy ending county-resource use for ICE enforcement. Statement: "The Board of Supervisors does not set policy for the Sheriff's Office."

SDIRC tracks Martinez's ICE-transfer practices, files CPRA requests, and publicly argues she has violated SB 54. Counterparty in TRUTH Act forums and Board policy advocacy.

Sheriff Martinez "vigorously opposed expanding CLERB's oversight, warning that NaphCare and Liberty Healthcare might cancel their jail contracts." Sheriff defended for-profit medical contractor's financial interest against civilian oversight expansion. Vendor-protection pattern.

Sheriff Martinez warned BOS that Liberty Healthcare (NaphCare mental-health subcontractor) might exit SD County jail contract if subjected to CLERB civilian oversight. Vendor-protection advocacy.

San Diego County Gun Owners PAC endorsed Martinez in 2022 primary; PAC director Michael Schwartz publicly claimed PAC played "big part" in primary victory. Endorsement based on Martinez's record reducing CCW permit wait times from 2 years to a few months.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez disclosed >$1M business interest (via spouse Pete Martinez) in Houska/Martinez/Sheets real estate partnership on every Form 700 from 2022-2025. Partnership owns commercial properties at 4725/4729, 8401, and 8405/8407 La Mesa Blvd. Tenants generating >$10K each include Sheldon's Service Station LLC and Myofascial Release (Taylor M. Moore / William M. Rogers). Gross income to entity OVER $100K every year.

Deputy Sheriffs Association of San Diego County formally endorsed Kelly Martinez for San Diego County Sheriff in the 2022 election. DSA represents 2,500+ SDSO deputies and is the primary law enforcement union in the sheriff race. DSA also hosted the 2022 Sheriff Candidate Forum.

Kelly Martinez (SD County Sheriff) is a member of CSSA and receives annual conference gifts from CSSA-sponsored vendors including Wellpath, Aramark Correctional Services, Peregrine, AT&T-FirstNet, and Falcon Inc., as disclosed on Martinez Form 700 Schedule D for 2024 and 2025. CSSA Corporate 100 Partners Program ($3,500/year) gives jail/detention vendors exclusive conference access to California Sheriffs. Gift channel: vendors pay CSSA → attend conferences alongside Sheriffs → provide meals/receptions disclosed as gifts → gain ongoing access to decision-makers who control hundreds of millions in county jail contracts.

Stephan + Sheriff Martinez + Assessor Marks coordinated public opposition to Lawson-Remer charter reform (May 15, 2026). All three are county-wide elected officials whose seats would be capped by the reform. Forms a "3 amigos" bloc (per OB Rag terminology) of GOP-leaning law-enforcement-adjacent officials operating across party labels — Stephan NPP, Martinez D (re-registered from R), Marks R.

SD County Sheriff's Department (Martinez, Sheriff) became subject to AB 268 (Chapter 298, 2023) statutory mental-health-screening + safety-check + officer-training mandates effective July 1, 2024. AB 268 directs BSCC to set Title 15 regulations; compliance falls on the Sheriff who operates the local detention facilities. As of May 2026, the Sheriff has not produced data verifying AB 268 MH-screening compliance for jail decedents (Mountain-Whisper-Light study, May 2026; ev 24609).

DSA SD (EIN 951953482) showed 2022 annual expense spike of $266K-$593K above 2020-2021 baseline ($3.26M vs $2.99M/$2.68M) — coincides with Martinez/Myers sheriff primary cycle. DSA's confirmed $25K Democratic-Party-endorsement-whip IE (evidence 24416) is one identified component; the remaining election-year expense lift is consistent with additional 2022 political spending whose F461/F496 transaction detail remains unretrieved due to Cal-Access bot-block (evidence 25712). 990 Schedule C aggregate political/lobbying line item to be inspected in R6 to bound the total.

Kelly Martinez is the elected Sheriff of San Diego County; SDSO is the agency she commands. Lane A relevance: every AB 268/SB 519 compliance obligation runs through her leadership.