Ross Mirkarimi

Ross Mirkarimi (born August 4, 1961) served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5 from 2005 to 2011. In November 2011 he was elected sheriff of San Francisco and served from January to March 2012, at which time he was suspended by Mayor Ed Lee. Mirkarimi is a co-founder of the Green Party of California, but in March 2010, became a Democrat.

As Supervisor, Mirkarimi garnered national attention when he introduced the first legislation prohibiting the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by large supermarkets and drugstores in 2007, making San Francisco the first city to do so. Later, other cities around the US and the world took up similar bans.

Mirkarimi served on the California Coastal Commission from 2009 to 2011. In 2006, he was awarded the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' (NORML) Rufus King award, given annually for leadership in the reform of marijuana laws.

On January 13, 2012, Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness in connection with a New Year's Eve altercation he had with his wife. While jury selection was underway, Mirkarimi entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney, pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment. On March 20, 2012, Mayor Lee suspended Mirkarimi pending an ethics investigation and appointed Vicki Hennessy as Acting Sheriff. On July 20, 2012, Mirkarimi was reunited with his wife after a judge lifted the stay-away order originally issued in January 2012 that barred Mirkarimi from contacting her. On October 9, 2012, after an eight-hour hearing with hundreds of public comments, four of eleven San Francisco Supervisors voted to reinstate Mirkarimi as Sheriff. According to the city charter, removing a public official for misconduct requires the vote of nine of eleven supervisors; only seven supervisors voted to remove Mirkarimi from his office.