Rich Desmond, a fifth-generation Sacramentan, was elected to represent District 3 on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in November 2020.
Rich joined the California Highway Patrol in 1995 and spent several years as a patrol officer in Los Angeles and Sacramento before promoting up the ranks into a variety of field and administrative positions, including assignments in the CHP's Office of Internal Affairs and Office of Risk Management. In 2011, Rich became the Commander of CHP field operations in eastern Sacramento County. He took over the CHP's legislative affairs program in 2014. While in this position, he participated in the development of the CHP's budget and worked on legislation affecting several areas of public policy, including traffic and public safety, law enforcement transparency and accountability, and use of force. In 2018, Rich was promoted to CHP Chief and temporarily assigned to the State Assembly as its Chief Sergeant-at-Arms before retiring in late 2019. Rich is proud of his participation in the CHP's creation of an AMBER Alert system to locate abducted and missing children and the development of the CHP's Mental Illness Response Program that trains officers how to safely resolve encounters with people experiencing a mental health crisis.