Sheriff Michael Hennessey

Michael Hennessey has served as Sheriff of San Francisco for 26 years, and was elected to his seventh term in November 2003. As Sheriff, he has won widespread recognition for the outstanding success of his innovative in–custody treatment programs. He is one of the nation’s pioneers in establishing direct supervision jails that have proven to be safer and more cost effective than traditional, linear jails.

He has also been nationally recognized for his recruitment program for women and minorities, including gay men and lesbians. His staff is among the most diverse in the nation and reflects the diversity of San Francisco’s population. At the height of the AIDS crisis, he was named Law Enforcement News' Man of the Year for leadership in fact-based policy and training regarding AIDS in jails and prisons.

Sheriff Hennessey was instrumental in implementing another innovative in–custody treatment program, Resolve To Stop the Violence Project (RSVP), which was started in 1997 and is a result of collaboration between organizations that advocate for victims' rights and provide services for survivors and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department. RSVP offers treatment for male offenders with violent histories, services to victims of violence and restitution to the community for the harm caused by violence. RSVP was honored in 2004 with the prestigious Innovations in Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. (See the News link.)

In September, 2003, Sheriff Hennessey opened the Five Keys Charter High School, which provides prisoners with the opportunity to earn high school diplomas while in custody. Prisoners who are released before they complete the curriculum may continue their studies at the Post Release Education Program, or PREP. The name Five Keys refers to the five most important factors in successful re–entry to the community after incarceration: education, employment, recovery, family and community. It is the nation's first charter high school to be operated inside a county jail.

A native of Iowa, Sheriff Hennessey graduated from St. John’s University, Minnesota, with a bachelor’s degree in history, and received his J.D. from University of San Francisco in 1973. He is the longest serving Sheriff in California and the only one who is a lawyer. In 1975, he founded and directed the San Francisco Jail Project, a legal assistance program for indigent prisoners with civil legal problems, and provided training for law students and new lawyers while offering technical assistance to the Sheriff’s Department.

The Charter School Task Force was comprised of 23 members from numerous San Francisco agencies including members of the deputized staff and high ranking civilians within the Sheriff’s department, lawyers from various city agencies, members of the parole board, independent contractors within the Sheriff’s Department, a teacher, members of the Restorative Justice community, members of the domestic violence community and independent contractors, BWG(Brian Bennett, Tim Wolf and Fil Guzman) who facilitated the charter acquisition prior to the School's opening in 2003.

Sheriff Michael Hennessey