LAKEPORT, Calif. — There is officially a new sheriff in Lake County.

Rob Howe took his oath of office on Monday morning in a small gathering at the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office in Lakeport.

Registrar Maria Valadez administered the oath to Howe as colleagues, family and friends — including his predecessor, Brian Martin, who retired as sheriff on Dec. 30 — looked on.

Martin and Howe embraced after the swearing-in.

Sheriff’s staff have welcomed Howe to the job, saying they’re excited to have him back in an agency which he once helped lead.

In October, after having won a third term unopposed in the June primary, Martin announced he was retiring at year’s end.

The Board of Supervisors appointed Howe as sheriff on Dec. 20 to fill a portion of Martin’s third term.

The law requires that an appointee fill the post until the next general election, when voters will choose the new sheriff.

Howe will serve until January of 2025, at which point the new sheriff elected in the fall of 2024 will take over.

A Lake County native, Howe served 19 years with the sheriff’s office, reaching the rank of captain and chief of staff under then-Sheriff Rod Mitchell. He left the agency in the fall of 2011 and took over the Lake County Probation Department in March 2012 as chief probation officer.

One of the reasons the board cited for selecting Howe is that he said he does not intend to run for sheriff in 2024, which will allow him to focus on running the agency rather than a campaign.

In the two-day gap between Martin’s official retirement date and Howe’s swearing-in, Capt. Chris Chwialkowski, the second highest ranking member of the sheriff’s office after Martin, was appointed by the supervisors to fill the sheriff’s job.

The law required that Howe be sworn in by noon on Monday, County Counsel Anita Grant told the board at the Dec. 20 meeting.

While Howe’s official swearing-in was Monday, he and elected department heads, including supervisors, the assessor-recorder, treasurer-tax collector and county clerk/auditor-controller, also will take their oaths of office at the start of the Board of Supervisors’ first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.