Sheriff Don Barnes has over thirty five years of law enforcement service to the people of Orange County. He joined the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in 1989. Over the course of his career with the department he has held every leadership rank, culminating with his election as the 13th Sheriff-Coroner for Orange County in November 2018.
Sheriff Barnes leads a department of approximately 4,000 employees. The men and women of the Sheriff’s Department provide patrol services for approximately 800,000 residents, operate one of the nation’s largest county jail systems, manage the Orange County Crime Lab, conduct criminal investigations, and provide training services at the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy. The Sheriff serves as the County’s Mutual Aid Coordinator and is responsible for emergency management. In 2020 the Sheriff faced the challenge of leading the County’s response to multiple emergencies: the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest, and multiple wildfires.
During his tenure as Sheriff he has focused on initiatives aimed at fighting crime, enhancing school safety, implementing programs in the jail to reduce recidivism, and increasing efforts to stop trafficking of deadly narcotics.
The Sheriff has worked to be a voice for public safety at the state and federal level. He serves as an executive officer with the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA) and chairs the CSSA Technology Committee. At the national level, he is the Major County Sheriffs of America’s (MCSA) Vice President for Homeland Security and chairs their Intelligence Commander Group. In that capacity the Sheriff is working to ensure open communication amongst local, state and federal law enforcement regarding critical threats facing our nation. This work is also accomplished through his service as MCSA’s representative to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC).
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.
A Southern California native, Sheriff Barnes has been a resident of Orange County for over forty years. He and his wife, Marilyn, are proud parents and grandparents. The Barnes Family are members of Saddleback Church in South Orange County. In his free time, Sheriff Barnes enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking meals on his smoker, working on cars, and reading.
