About Us

The Department of Ombudsman was created through the approval of an ordinance in 1993 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The Department of Ombudsman was the first of its kind in this state and the first nationally involved in law enforcement oversight.

The Department was originally created out of a recommendation of the Kolts Commission which was examining various issues involving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The oversight responsibilities of the department have now grown to include the Office of Public Safety and other departments as directed by the Board. During the nine years the Ombudsman Office has been in operation, it has grown very modestly from a staff of three in 1993 to a staff of nine today.