Kern County supervisor exits meeting abruptly, says authorities are searching her office

A Kern County public meeting dramatically deviated from the agenda when Supervisor Leticia Perez accused district attorney staff of attempting to “illegally” search her office.

Perez said that, around 9 a.m. Friday, Kern County district attorney investigators arrived at her office in downtown Bakersfield. The investigators, Perez said, tried to “make illegal entry” by requesting that county administrative staff give them access to her office while it was locked and empty.

Perez said the investigators did not have a warrant or her permission to search her office. A call and text to Dist. Atty. Cynthia Zimmer went unreturned, she said.

“They did not have permission, they did not provide notice to us, and they did not have a warrant,” Perez said.

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The district attorney’s office denied Perez’s allegations. Investigators were seeking consent to enter and photograph portions of the Kern County Administrative Building, including areas used by Supervisor Perez and her staff. When rebuffed, investigators obtained a search warrant from a judge.

“It is common for investigators to request consent to conduct searches as part of a pending investigation,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement Monday. “When parties with access to information or evidence relevant to a criminal investigation decline to voluntarily consent to a search, the next step in an investigation is often to seek judicial authorization to conduct the search.”

The district attorney’s office declined to provide additional details about the scope of the investigation. But investigators belonged to the Public Integrity Unit, which investigates potential criminal violations, including those related to elected officials.

About an hour into the public meeting, Perez once again interrupted the meeting to announce her office was in the process of being searched.

“The D.A. has arrived at my office with a warrant to search my office … so I’ll be heading up to have to deal with that right now, and I’m very, very sorry about that,” Perez said shortly before rising from her chair and walking out.

With one supervisor seat vacant and Perez gone, the situation caught Kern County Chairman David Couch off-guard.

“What does this do to our meeting?” Couch asked. “We only have three people.”

The Board of Supervisors was in the middle of hearing public comments ahead of a vote on what could be the state’s first carbon capture and storage project, a plan to permanently store carbon emissions underground.

Perez is currently running for reelection for another four-year term on the Board of Supervisors. Perez represents County District 5, which includes portions of downtown and eastern Bakersfield. She has served as a county supervisor since 2013.