LA County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission Elects Officers for FY 2026-2027

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission (Commission) unanimously reelected Commissioner Hans Johnson to serve as its Chair during the fiscal year (FY) 2026-2027. The Commission also elected Commissioner Arthur Calloway II as First Vice Chair and Commissioner George B. Newhouse, Jr., as Second Vice Chair.

Chair Hans Johnson is president of Progressive Victory, a nationally renowned consultancy on advocacy strategy and good governance practices in the nonprofit sector. He has worked extensively with foundations, labor unions, congregations, fair housing and human rights organizations in every U.S. state and D.C. For more than 20 years in more than 20 states, Chair Johnson has worked with local advocates for nonviolence who track hate crimes and train public safety officers and first responders in LGBTQ awareness, inclusion, and cultural competency. In October 2020, he catalogued alleged abuses by the L.A. County Sheriff and his deputies in a complaint to then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra that resulted in the launch of a state investigation into violations of civil rights and civil liberties by Sheriff Alex Villanueva and the Sheriff’s Department. In 2025, efforts by Chair Johnson and many other leaders throughout California to reinforce in state law the subpoena authority for civilian oversight boards at the county level succeeded in winning approval by the legislature of AB 847, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and in effect as of January 1, 2026.

“I’m pleased to do this work in part because volunteer service to the County takes independence,” Chair Johnson stated. “It takes determination and some degree of spine in standing up for core principles about independence and integrity despite new developments that cast barriers or impediments in the path of honest oversight.”

The Board of Supervisors appointed Chair Johnson to the Commission on September 27, 2022, on the recommendation of First District Supervisor Hilda Solis, the current Chair of the Board of Supervisors. He was reappointed on July 1, 2025.

First Vice Chair Arthur Calloway II is a United States Air Force veteran, an advocate for racial justice and the prevention of domestic violence, and a configuration manager at a major defense contractor. An Antelope Valley resident, he has created civic engagement initiatives designed to connect community leaders, encourage greater public participation, and help residents better understand how to pursue elected office and become involved in local government. In 2017, he launched the r3AV Summit to build bridges among leaders and organizations throughout the Antelope Valley and demystify the process of running for elected office. In 2020, he co-founded Vote Your Power Back to channel anguish over civilian fatalities during encounters with law enforcement into local community service and civic engagement. He also serves as chair of the Antelope Valley Black Chamber of Commerce.

“I think that supporting the mission of this Commission is very important,” First Vice Chair Calloway said. “I would like to help guide us towards a strategy of using key performance indicators based on the information that we already receive from the LASD and use this information to be proactive in making change happen. We should also work on being able to access more information in the future. I would like to help bring that to fruition.”

The Board of Supervisors appointed First Vice Chair Calloway to the Commission on September 10, 2024, on the recommendation of the Commission.

Second Vice Chair George B. Newhouse, Jr.  is a white-collar criminal defense/commercial litigation attorney at Richards Carrington, LLC. Prior to entering private practice, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1986 to 1998, including supervising attorneys in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Commissioner Newhouse acted as the coordinator for terrorism and foreign counterintelligence matters with the FBI in Los Angeles through 1998. In 2000, he served as Deputy General Counsel to the Los Angeles Police Commission’s Rampart Independent Review Panel. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California.

“Having served for more than a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, specifically with the Public Corruption Section of that office, and having run and supervised during that time scores if not hundreds of investigations, I understand what it takes to perform a fair, thorough, and sufficient investigation,” Second Vice Chair Newhouse stated. “It is critical and vital that we work to obtain the investigative tools necessary for the Commission to do its job — to issue subpoenas and review investigative reports. At the moment – by design, some would say – these tools are being denied to the Commission. It is of vital importance that we work to overcome these institutional obstructions that have blocked our path, thus denying our citizens the oversight that they have repeatedly voted for and deserve to receive. That must change. That is my commitment.”

The Board of Supervisors appointed Second Vice Chair Newhouse to the Commission on July 29, 2025, on the recommendation of Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger.