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Vern Warnke

Vern Warnke is the Sheriff-Coroner of Merced County, California, sworn into office in December 2014 after a nearly four-decade career with the Merced County Sheriff's Office.

Oct 17, 2026

6:08
Right.
6:08
Is, as we are talking today, is being worked on by the county.
6:13
Our, uh, new, um, public works director, Nathan Bray, uh, I tell you what, that man is sharp.
6:20
He ended up w- I asked him point-blank, had him in the helicopter, and I said, "All right, really, whose responsibility is it?" And in history, uh, everybody's pointing fingers, 'cause there's, like, four or five government ain- entities-
10:35
Yeah, okay.
10:36
Yeah.
10:36
And w- a lot of the issues that, uh, you know, were discussed, I literally told, uh, all these, um, city managers, and like I said, the CEO was sitting next to me, and the two assistant CEOs were to my right.
10:49
And, uh, I literally told them straight up that I, I want to be able to say, "We're the government, and we're here to help," and actually have it mean it instead of the joke.
16:04
Mm
16:04
... stuck in his waistband.
16:05
And, uh, the, uh, the spouse is giving directions, and I'm the only one.
16:10
And so I find out where he lives, and he lives in town.
16:14
And I, as I pull up, he's in front of the house, and he's got the gun stuck in his waistband.
16:18
And I'm thinking, "Okay." I told dispatch.
16:20
They got deputies rolling, and it was still probably a 15-minute ETA to get a deputy there-
16:44
Talked to him.

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