Fresno County, California
Panelist, Protecting & Upholding American Ideals
Margaret Mims has been a peace officer since January 1980. She was elected sheriff in 2006, the 25th person and first woman to hold that office in Fresno County. She was the first female deputy sheriff sergeant to supervise field patrol units and first female deputy sheriff to attain the rank of lieutenant, captain and assistant sheriff in the history of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Mims is a member of the Fresno Rotary Club and is on the board of directors of the Marjaree Mason Center, a local women’s shelter.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Fresno Pacific University, has a master’s degree in public administration from National University and is a graduate of California Peace Officer Standards & Training Supervisory Leadership Institute, and the Senior Management Institute for Police, held by Boston University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.