Representatives from the California Attorney General’s office were present at the Shasta County Elections office on Monday, June 1, though dispute has arisen over who sent them there, and why.
Brent Turner, assistant county clerk/registrar of voters, told the Record Searchlight he requested that the state send representatives and explained that he did so because he believes it is beneficial to have higher levels of authority present given the “unusual amount of negativity surrounding” the elections office.
When asked if he was referring to the recent investigations into allegations of workplace misconduct against County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, Turner, referring broadly to “unusual circumstances with the county that we’re all aware of,” said: “If an outsider was to take a look they would understand.”
Turner also emphasized that the attorney general’s office has been present during elections in Shasta County long before Curtis was elected to office.
The representatives from the Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.
In a statement emailed to the Record Searchlight, the Attorney General’s press office said: “The Secretary of State and the Attorney General will be deploying election observers throughout the State, as we typically do. The Attorney General’s Office also has a team of attorneys on standby who are ready to file suit immediately to enforce election laws and stop any unlawful activity on Election Day. And both the Secretary of State’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office will be available to field questions, concerns, and reports from the public, voting groups, and local elections officials.”
Susanne Baremore, a community activist and local elections observer, told the paper she heard that Curtis and Turner had jointly requested that the representatives be sent to the office on May 20, and wondered if it could have been in response to the investigations into Curtis’ conduct.
David Wylie, the community education specialist with the Shasta County Elections Office, said in an interview with the R-S that the Attorney General’s Office had sent the representatives, and that it is common practice during election season. Wylie said their role is to observe election processes and report any malpractice to the state.
The elections office has been embroiled in controversy since Curtis took office in April 2025, and was most recently under scrutiny after two separate investigations were released which concluded that Curtis’ conduct toward staff has been, at times, unprofessional.
A county investigative report, written by Social Services Director Monica Fugitt in April 2026, found substantiated evidence that Curtis threatened to “have an employee pulled out their office by their hair,” retaliated against an employee for participating in a workplace investigation, made statements that he would slap or punch and throat punch staff, and engaged in abusive conduct toward his staff.
A prior investigation, conducted by the Oppenheimer Investigations Group between August 2025 and March 2026, found substantiated evidence of additional instances of workplace misconduct.
Based on the findings of these two reports, Fugitt recommended at an April 28 special Board of Supervisors meeting that that panel censure Curtis, and that he either work in a separate location from staff or have county employees assigned to the elections offices to monitor his communication with staff.
The supervisors ultimately voted 3-2 to delay a decision on censure until after the June 2 primary election.
At a press conference held by Curtis on May 21, the elections clerk called the investigations a “hack job” and said he “didn’t do anything that was in that report.”
He also called up three current elections staffers hired by himself to speak at the press conference, who denied all allegations against Curtis and instead placed the blame on elections office employees hired before Curtis took office in April 2025 for stirring up chaos.
Drew Askeland covers Redding and Shasta County government issues, as well as anything else that needs reporting for the Record Searchlight and USA Today Network. Reach him at drew.askeland@redding.com or (530) 225-8247. Please subscribe today to support our newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta office, at eye of storm before June 2 election, gets a visit
Reporting by Drew Askeland, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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