Clackamas County Sheriff Angela Brandenburg will step down July 27 after 35 years in law enforcement, leaving the county's top law enforcement post open.
Brandenburg informed the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners and sheriff's office employees in separate letters that she is retiring now so voters can choose her successor on the November 3 ballot, according to reporting by the Wilsonville Spokesman published July 23.
"It is time for me to retire and make way for the next generation of Sheriff's Office leadership," Brandenburg wrote to the board.
Undersheriff Jesse Ashby will serve as acting sheriff once Brandenburg leaves.
Who can run — and when
The Clackamas County Elections Office declared the sheriff position vacant as of July 27 and set a candidate filing window running from Sunday, August 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 25.
As of July 23, no candidate had filed, though the window has not yet opened.
Under Oregon law, sheriff candidates must be at least 21, hold four years of full-time law enforcement experience (or two years plus two years of postsecondary education), and have no disqualifying felony conviction.
Candidates must also submit a Sheriff Candidate Eligibility Review to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.
Budget pressures loom
Brandenburg's departure comes as the sheriff's office faces a funding cliff. Voters rejected Measure 3-633, a public safety levy, in the May 2026 primary by a margin of roughly 61% to 39%.
That measure would have raised about $202.9 million over five years at a cost of roughly $191 per year for the average homeowner.
The current levy expires December 31. Without replacement funding, the sheriff's office would need to cut patrol deputies, jail deputies, and jail beds for the 2027-28 fiscal year, Brandenburg said in a June 2026 statement reported by the Lake Oswego Review.
Commissioner Martha Schrader said after the levy's defeat, as reported by the Lake Oswego Review on June 4, that residents in cities with their own police forces, like Lake Oswego, perceived they were paying into a levy that didn't benefit them directly. Whether the board will refer a new levy to the November ballot remains unresolved; the deadline to do so is Thursday, August 13.
Brandenburg's record
Brandenburg won election in 2020 and again in 2024. In her retirement letter, she characterized Clackamas County as "the safest county in the Portland metro area since 2022" and pointed to the launch of a Body-Worn Camera Program, a public crime-reporting dashboard, and Oregon's first Medication Assisted Treatment program inside a jail.
Her tenure also included budget clashes with the board and an investigation into alleged misconduct and sexual harassment from decades prior, according to the Wilsonville Spokesman.
Key dates for voters and candidates
- Sunday, August 3 — Candidate filing opens for County Sheriff
- Thursday, August 13 — Deadline for board to refer ballot measures to November election
- Tuesday, August 25, 5 p.m. — Candidate filing closes; voters' pamphlet statement deadline
- Monday, September 14, 1 p.m. — Candidate Open House, Clackamas County Elections Office (RSVP: [email protected])
- Tuesday, October 13 — Voter registration deadline
- Wednesday, October 14 — Ballots mailed to voters
- Tuesday, November 3 — Election Day; ballots due by 8 p.m. at official drop sites or postmarked by this date
