LAKE COUNTY — The California Fair Political Practices Commission found that Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell did not violate fair election rules during his participation in a Middletown parade on June 19.
The commission”s review found that Sheriff Mitchell did campaign during the parade but “did not use public moneys, in the form of county sheriff resources and personnel, in connection with this campaign activity.”
A complaint filed in July 2010 alleged that Sheriff Mitchell authorized the use of sheriff vehicles, police dogs and on-duty officers during the parade.
The complaint further alleged that the vehicles had campaign materials on them and that Sheriff Mitchell walked alongside the vehicles with campaign literature and paraphernalia.
The commission used video footage of the event to determine that Sheriff Mitchell did have “entries” in the parade, “none of which used official sheriff vehicles, equipment or on-duty personal.”
