San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus walks out of court in Redwood City on Friday, Aug. 29. Post photo.
BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Christina Corpus had a golden parachute when she lost her job for corruption as sheriff of San Mateo County.
She will get $402,338.28 a year in pension and health care benefits in her retirement.
Corpus, 55, of San Bruno, retired Oct. 15, just a day before the Board of Supervisors voted to fire her for several reasons including hiring her alleged boyfriend to a top-level job despite his lack of experience.
In retirement, she will receive family medical benefits worth $75,307.44 a year.
Corpus said she retired a day before she was fired so she could keep health insurance for herself and her children, aged 16 and 14, according to court documents.
“My 14-year-old is severely autistic and requires special medical and educational services,” she said in a court declaration.
In retirement, she receives $27,252.57 a month or $327,030.84 a year, according to the county’s pension agency, SamCERA.
Her pension benefits will be adjusted in April for changes in the inflation rate. How much will her retirement cost? Adding her pension benefits of $327,030.84 and her medical benefits of $75,307.44, she will cost $402,338.28 a year.
Tax-free pension?
And she may be able to get more money from taxpayers.
Law enforcement officers who claim to be disabled can receive a tax-free pension. Originally, the benefit was for officers who were wounded in the line of duty. But by 2005, 80% of the chiefs in the CHP were retiring with medical pensions that were tax-free, according to an investigation by the Sacramento Bee. The retired officers were claiming they suffered from irritable bowel syndrome or stress, two maladies that are difficult for doctors to document.
After the Bee’s story was published, politicians promised reforms, but it is still possible for retired law enforcement officers to get tax-free pensions.
The agencies handling Corpus’ pension have refused to say if she has been granted a medical pension. However, a tax-free pension would significantly increase the cash she receives every month.
Public-sector pensions are based on years of employment, an employee’s final salary or final three years of salary, and other specifics in the pension plan the employee has selected.
‘They don’t deserve me’
Corpus moved up through the ranks in the sheriff’s office for over 20 years and made $384,246 in total pay plus $253,871 in benefits in 2024, according to records from Transparent California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan website that tracks public-sector pay.
Corpus was fired by the board on Oct. 14 after a tumultuous two years and nine months in office. Investigations showed she had given her alleged boyfriend the job of chief-of-staff and she engaged in intimidation and retaliation of employees. She was accused of arresting one of her critics and demoting others.
On Corpus’ last day, she told ABC7’s Dan Noyes, who had become her unofficial spokesman, that she retired “under duress” so she could retain her medical benefits for herself and her children.
She said, “I’ll be OK. They don’t deserve me.”