County of San Joaquin

Pat Withrow stepped up from deputy sheriff to the top job in 2018, when he garnered 58.08 percent of vote in the primary election and ousted incumbent Steve Moore. Withrow ran unopposed in 2022 and, thanks to a new state law—Assembly Bill 759, designed to line up both district attorney and sheriff’s races with the presidential election—he is now serving a six-year term.

Withrow ran on the following three priorities, according to his 2018 candidate statement on VotersEdge.org: securing the San Joaquin Country Jail and implementing training programs to reduce recidivism; restoring regular patrol staffing levels; and beginning the transition from coroner’s duties (once part of the Sheriff’s Office) to a medical examiner’s office.

A San Joaquin Valley local, Withrow has worked for Sheriff’s Office since 1987. He attended Modesto Junior College and Stanislaus State University and graduated from Union Institute and University with a bachelor of science in criminal justice management and also got a degree from the West Point Leadership Academy.

Notable quotes: “The voters of San Joaquin County have decided that they wanted change and they were giving me that opportunity. I just want them to know what an honor it is that they chose me to run this department and help move us into the modern law enforcement era. I look forward to working with all the other police agencies and cities within our county to make sure that we have a county that is safe and create an environment where business wants to come. Bring their companies here. Bring jobs.” (Tank Town Media, 2018)

“We came into a department that, let’s just say, needed a lot, a lot of help. To transform what we’ve become in these four years is nothing short of a miracle of what my staff has done, and it’s absolutely amazing.” (Source: Stocktonia, 2023)