Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Government of Kern County, California
 |
 |
| Seat: Bakersfield |
| Population (2020): 909,235 |
| County Commissioners: 5 |
| County Website: Official website |
The county government of Kern County is located in Bakersfield, California. It covers a total of 8,131.92 square miles in southern California.[1]
Elections
2024
Kern County, California, held general elections for board of supervisors, county board of education, East Niles Community Services District, Kern Community College District, Kern County Water Agency, and superior court judges on November 5, 2024. A primary was scheduled for the board of supervisors and superior court seats on March 5, 2024. The filing deadline for the offices holding a primary was December 8, 2023, and the filing deadline for the general election offices was August 9, 2024.
A special election for the District 2 seat on the Kern County Board of Supervisors was held on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for the special election was also August 9, 2024.[2]
Elections for the Superior Court of Kern County were canceled if the incumbent was the only candidate to file. Those incumbents were automatically re-elected to their seats.
2022
Kern County, California, held primary elections for assessor-recorder, auditor-controller-county clerk, district attorney, sheriff-coroner-public administrator, superintendent of schools, treasurer-tax collector, board of supervisors, and superior court judges on June 7, 2022. Candidates could win outright with a majority of the vote in the primary. If no candidate received a majority, the top two vote-getters advanced to the general election scheduled for November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for these elections was March 11, 2022.
The county also held general elections for county board of education, community college district board, county water agency board, and community services district board on November 8, 2022. Elections could be canceled if only one candidate filed. The filing deadline for these elections was August 12, 2022.
2020
Kern County, California, held general elections for the Kern County Board of Education, the East Niles Community Services District board, the Kern Community College District board, and the Kern County Water Agency board on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for these elections was August 7, 2020.
The county also held primary elections for county supervisor districts 1, 4, and 5, and judge of the superior court offices 3, 7, 9, 14, 22, 23, 27, and 32 on March 3, 2020. A general election was scheduled for November 3, 2020, for any races in which a candidate did not win a majority of votes in the primary. The filing deadline for this election was December 6, 2019. If no incumbent or candidate filed in the election, the filing deadline was extended by five days to December 11, 2019.
2018
Kern County, California, held primary elections for county assessor-recorder, county auditor-controller-county clerk, district attorney, county sheriff-coroner-public administrator, county treasurer-tax collector, county superintendent of schools, and superior court judges on June 5, 2018. General elections were not required for the races on the primary ballot. The filing deadline was March 9, 2018.[3]
Three county board of supervisors seats were up for general election on November 6, 2018. Two of the seats were originally scheduled to be up for primary election with the other county offices, but the election was moved following the resolution of a Voting Rights Act lawsuit and the creation of new district maps. An additional seat was also added to the ballot as part of the resolution.[4]
Four county board of education seats, three community college district seats, three water agency board seats, and two community services district seats were also scheduled to be up for election on November 6, 2018. Due to lack of opposition, however, most of those races were canceled.[5]
Elected officials
 |
If any officeholder information below is no longer accurate, please contact us with any updates. |
|
County commissioners
- See also: County commission
The board of supervisors functions as the county's primary legislative and policy-making body. Most boards also control county land usage, oversee environmental issues and possess executive powers, meaning they have the authority to appoint or remove departmental heads. Kern County has five supervisors who are elected by district to four-year terms.[6]
The table below provides information on each of the county commissioners:
| Office | Name | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|
| Kern County Board of Supervisors District 1 | Phillip Peters | January 4, 2021 |
| Kern County Board of Supervisors District 2 | Chris Parlier | January 6, 2025 |
| Kern County Board of Supervisors District 3 | Jeff Flores | January 2, 2023 |
| Kern County Board of Supervisors District 4 | David Couch | 2013 |
| Kern County Board of Supervisors District 5 | Leticia Perez | 2013 |
The widget below automatically displays information about their meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
County board of education
The Kern County Board of Education is a seven-member board responsible for overseeing academic performance and policies in the county's school districts. Each board member is elected by district to a four-year term.[7]
| Office | Name | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 1 | Julie Beechinor | October 11, 2023 |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 2 | Joe Marcano | December 9, 2022 |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 3 | Mary Little | |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 4 | Jose Gonzalez | |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 5 | Lori Eskew | December 13, 2024 |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 6 | Jim Robinson | December 13, 2024 |
| Kern County Board of Education Trustee Area 7 | Lori Cisneros | December 9, 2022 |
Other elected officials
Kern County residents also elect the following public officials:
| Office | Name | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|
| Kern County Assessor-Recorder | Laura Avila | January 2, 2023 |
| Kern County Auditor-Controller-County Clerk | Aimee X. Espinoza | January 2, 2023 |
| Kern County District Attorney | Cynthia Zimmer | 2018 |
| Kern County Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator | Donny Youngblood | 2006 |
| Kern County Superintendent of Schools | John Mendiburu | July 1, 2023 |
| Kern County Treasurer-Tax Collector | Jordan Kaufman | 2014 |
Special districts
Kern County residents also elect members of the following special districts:
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kern County California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Kern County, California | California | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
 |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Kern County, California," accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ Bakersfield.com, "Candidates for District 2 supervisor's seat must file by Friday," August 5, 2024
- ↑ Kern County Elections Division, "Candidate Filing Guide: Gubernatorial Primary Election June 5, 2018," accessed March 15, 2018
- ↑ KGET.com, "Kern agrees to supervisor map with new Latino majority district; supervisor elections pushed to Nov," March 30, 2018
- ↑ Kern County Elections, "Contests Not on Ballot," accessed October 16, 2018
- ↑ Kern County, California, "Board of Supervisors," accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ Kern County Superintendent of Schools, "Board of Education," accessed August 24, 2017
