Board of Supervisors
The Riverside County CA Board of Supervisors is the county’s governing body and the main elected authority for countywide policy, budgeting, contracts, certain land-use decisions, and appointments. Residents may also need the Board’s district offices or the Riverside County Clerk of the Board when identifying their supervisor, reviewing a meeting agenda, requesting to speak, submitting written comments, watching a meeting, or locating Board proceedings. This article explains those responsibilities, the five supervisorial districts, official meeting systems, district lookup options, and the distinctions that can prevent requests from being sent to the wrong county office.
Board Role and Authority
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is the governing body of Riverside County, certain special districts, and the Housing Authority. Its responsibilities include enacting ordinances and resolutions, adopting the annual county budget, approving contracts, appropriating funds, determining land-use zoning for unincorporated areas, and appointing certain county officers and members of boards and commissions. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
These duties are broader than the constituent services handled by an individual supervisor’s district office. A resident may contact a district office about a local county concern, but many Board actions are taken collectively during Board of Supervisors meetings. An ordinance, budget decision, contract approval, funding appropriation, or other Board action should therefore be distinguished from a request for help with an individual county service.
The land-use role also has an important geographic limitation. The county Board determines land-use zoning for unincorporated areas. Residents should not assume that a property inside an incorporated city follows the same county process simply because the city is located in Riverside County. The reference material specifically identifies the Board’s zoning authority in connection with unincorporated areas.
Board and Clerk Responsibilities
Residents frequently encounter both the Board of Supervisors and the Clerk of the Board when trying to participate in county government. These offices are closely connected, but their functions should not be treated as interchangeable.
The supervisors are the five elected Board members representing the county’s five supervisorial districts. The Clerk of the Board provides support to the Board and information to the public. The Riverside County Clerk of the Board website is therefore an important starting point for meeting-related tasks. Its official quick links include the current agenda, a Spanish version of the current agenda, requests to speak, written comment submission, Board meeting videos, agendas and proceedings, budget information, and the Board calendar. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
A practical way to separate these responsibilities is to consider the task. Questions directed to a particular elected supervisor or concerning a district can generally be routed to that supervisor’s district office. Tasks involving Board meeting agendas, public participation, videos, proceedings, or the Board calendar belong with the Clerk of the Board systems identified on the Clerk’s website.
When a District Office Fits
A district office is the relevant Board office when the resident needs to identify or communicate with the supervisor representing a particular area. Each supervisor represents one of five geographic districts, and each district has its own county-operated website. District offices also publish local news, events, district resources, and other information specific to their communities.
Before contacting a district office, confirm the supervisorial district for the address involved. This is especially useful when a city is divided between districts, when an address is in an unincorporated community, or when someone is relying on district information that predates the 2021 redistricting.
When the Clerk Fits
The Clerk of the Board is the better starting point for residents who need the current Board agenda, want to participate in a meeting, need to submit comments without speaking, want to watch Board meeting videos, or are looking for agendas and proceedings. Keeping meeting administration separate from constituent communication reduces the chance of contacting a supervisor’s office for a task handled through the Clerk’s public systems.
Five Supervisorial Districts
Riverside County is divided into five supervisorial districts. The official county Board page currently identifies Jose Medina for District 1, Karen Spiegel for District 2, Chuck Washington for District 3, V. Manuel Perez for District 4, and Yxstian Gutierrez for District 5. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
A city name alone does not always establish a resident’s district. Portions of Jurupa Valley, for example, are assigned to different districts. Unincorporated communities are also distributed among the five districts. The safest approach is to verify the relevant address before choosing a supervisor.
First District
Supervisor Jose Medina represents the First Supervisorial District. According to the county’s Board information, District 1 includes the cities of Riverside and Perris and portions of Jurupa Valley. Its unincorporated communities include Good Hope, Highgrove, March Air Reserve Base, Mead Valley, and Meadowbrook. Residents looking for district-specific information can visit the First District website.
The District 1 site also directs residents to district lookup information and Board participation information. This makes the district site useful when a constituent needs both local office information and a route to countywide Board meeting materials.
Second District
Supervisor Karen Spiegel represents the Second Supervisorial District. The county identifies Canyon Lake, Corona, Eastvale, Lake Elsinore, Norco, and portions of Jurupa Valley among the cities in District 2. The district also contains numerous unincorporated communities, including Canyon Ridge, Coronita, El Cerrito, El Cariso, El Sobrante, Gavilan Hills, Home Gardens, Lake Hills, Lake Mathews, Lakeland Village, Rancho Capistrano, Rancho Carillo, Temescal Valley, Victoria Grove, Warm Springs, and Woodcrest.
The Second District website provides district information and constituent resources. Its published information also advises residents who are unsure of their district to use the county’s supervisor lookup and indicates that the lookup requires a city of residence, house number, and street name.
Third District
Supervisor Chuck Washington represents the Third Supervisorial District. District 3 covers the southwest portion of Riverside County from Anza to Temecula and includes Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, and Wildomar. The county also identifies Aguanga, Anza Valley, De Luz, East Hemet, French Valley, Green Acres, Homeland, La Cresta, Lake Riverside, Romoland, Sage, Tenaja, Winchester, and Valle Vista among the district’s unincorporated communities.
The Third District website provides district-specific information. District 3 has both a Riverside office and a French Valley office. The county’s Board page specifically states that correspondence should be directed to the Riverside office, a detail worth observing when preparing mailed correspondence.
Fourth District
Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District. The county describes District 4 as geographically the largest of the five districts, covering the eastern two-thirds of Riverside County. Its cities include Blythe, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage.
Unincorporated areas identified on the county Board page include Bermuda Dunes, Chiriaco Summit, Colorado River Communities, Desert Center/Lake Tamarisk/Eagle Mountain, Desert Edge, Desert Palms, Indio Hills, Mecca, Mesa Verde, North Shore, Oasis, Ripley, Sky Valley, Thermal, Thousand Palms, Vista Santa Rosa, and the Idyllwild/Mountain Communities. The Fourth District website provides information for residents of this large geographic district.
Fifth District
Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez represents the Fifth Supervisorial District. District 5 includes Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Hemet, Moreno Valley, and San Jacinto. The county also identifies Cabazon, Cherry Valley, Lakeview, Nuevo, Reche Canyon, San Timeteo Canyon, and parts of Valle Vista among the district’s unincorporated communities.
The Fifth District website provides district information and resources. Unlike districts with only one or two locations identified in the reference material, District 5 has offices in Riverside, Beaumont, Cabazon, Moreno Valley, and San Jacinto. Residents should select the office appropriate to their purpose rather than assuming that every Board-related matter must be handled at the County Administrative Center.
Finding Your Supervisor
The Board adopted new supervisorial boundaries in December 2021 as part of the county’s redistricting process. District lines are redrawn every 10 years based on population and other requirements under state and federal law. The 2021 boundaries for Districts 2, 4, and 5 took effect in January 2023, while the boundaries for Districts 1 and 3 took effect in January 2025. Because all of those effective dates have passed, older district information may no longer identify the correct supervisor for an address.
The county provides an official supervisorial district address lookup map. The lookup allows users to enter an address, use location services, or click a location within Riverside County. Its purpose is to show how the 2021 supervisorial district boundaries relate to the prior 2011 boundaries.
For an address-based question, use the actual property or residence address connected with the matter rather than choosing a district solely from a nearby city or community name. This is particularly relevant where district boundaries pass through a city or where the property sits close to a district boundary.
Why Boundaries Changed
The county’s redistricting process follows the decennial U.S. Census. Riverside County states that supervisorial boundaries are adjusted to account for population changes and to maintain substantially equal population among districts. Other stated considerations include federal and state law, the Voting Rights Act, geographic continuity, communities of interest, geographic integrity, identifiable boundaries, and geographic compactness.
The Board adopted the new district lines on December 14, 2021, after public hearings and review of numerous versions of district maps. The county’s redistricting material explains that this process concerns Riverside County’s five supervisorial districts. City council districts and state and federal legislative districts are separate redistricting matters and should not be confused with the Board of Supervisors district map.
Board Meetings and Agendas
Residents interested in a Board decision should begin with the Clerk of the Board rather than relying only on a district office webpage or news announcement. The Clerk’s official site provides access to the current agenda, agendas and proceedings, meeting videos, public participation options, budget information, and the annual Board calendar.
Reference material from the Second District states that Board meetings are held Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. apart from certain dates. Because exceptions occur, residents planning around a specific meeting should consult the official Board calendar instead of assuming every Tuesday follows the standard schedule.
Reviewing the Agenda
The current agenda is the appropriate source for determining what matters are scheduled for Board consideration. Checking the agenda first can prevent several common errors, such as preparing comments for an item that is not scheduled, confusing a district announcement with a formal Board agenda item, or assuming that a matter has already been acted upon because it appeared in preliminary county information.
The Clerk website also provides agendas and proceedings. Residents researching a Board matter should distinguish between materials concerning an upcoming meeting and records associated with prior Board proceedings. Meeting videos provide another way to review what occurred during Board sessions, and the Clerk offers both English and Spanish meeting video options.
Speaking at a Meeting
The Clerk of the Board website provides a specific “Request to Speak at the Board of Supervisors Meeting” option. A Spanish request-to-speak option is also available. Residents who intend to speak should use the designated Board meeting participation process rather than treating an email to an individual supervisor as a substitute for the meeting request system.
Before submitting a request, identify the meeting and subject involved from the official agenda. Preparing the correct agenda information can help the resident distinguish the specific Board matter they want to address from other county issues that may be handled administratively by departments or district offices.
Submitting Comments Without Speaking
Residents do not have to choose the request-to-speak option when their intention is only to provide written comments. The Clerk site separately provides a method to submit comments for a Board of Supervisors meeting without requesting to speak. This distinction matters because speaking and written-only participation are presented as separate official options.
When deciding which option fits, focus on the intended form of participation: use the request-to-speak process when seeking to speak at the meeting and the written-comment process when submitting comments without speaking. Avoid sending the same request through unrelated county service channels when the Clerk already provides a Board-specific participation method.
Choosing the Correct County Route
Not every problem affecting a Riverside County resident requires action by the Board of Supervisors. The County of Riverside operates individual departments responsible for specific services, and the district offices themselves direct residents to agencies for matters such as property taxes, certificates, animal services, transportation, legal information, and other specialized programs.
The County’s Web Request Portal separates common requests into categories including Animal Services, Health Services, Licenses and Permits, Property Information, Streets and Public Walkways, Tax Bills and Payments, Vital Records and Recorded Documents, website issues, and other questions. Using the appropriate departmental route can be more accurate than assuming a Board district office directly processes every county transaction.
This distinction is especially important for residents seeking a payment, official certificate, license, property record, or department-specific service. A supervisor’s office may represent constituents, but the reference material does not establish district offices as replacement processing offices for those county systems.
Preparing a Board Inquiry
A Board-related inquiry is easier to route when the resident identifies the type of request before contacting an office. Useful preparation depends on the task and should remain limited to information relevant to the matter.
For district identification, have the city of residence, house number, and street name available for the supervisor lookup.
For an upcoming Board matter, review the current agenda and identify the meeting and subject involved.
For public participation, decide whether the intent is to request to speak or to submit comments without speaking.
For a past Board matter, consult agendas, proceedings, or meeting videos rather than relying on the current agenda alone.
For a district-specific inquiry, confirm the supervisor assigned to the address under the current supervisorial boundaries.
For a county service request, determine whether a specialized department or Web Request Portal category already handles the issue.
Residents should also distinguish an incorporated city matter from a county matter. The Board’s referenced land-use zoning authority applies to unincorporated areas, and supervisorial districts should not be confused with city council districts. Similarly, the county’s redistricting process establishes the five supervisorial districts; it does not establish city, state legislative, or congressional district boundaries.
Common Board Service Mistakes
Relying on Old Boundaries
Using an outdated district map can direct a request to the wrong supervisor. The county adopted new boundaries in 2021, with the final groups of districts becoming effective by January 2025. Address lookup is more reliable than assuming that a supervisor who represented an area under the 2011 map still represents it under the current boundaries.
Confusing Board and Clerk Tasks
The Board members govern and represent their districts, while the Clerk supports the Board and provides public meeting information. Requests to speak, written Board meeting comments, agendas, proceedings, videos, and calendar information should be handled through the Clerk’s official systems identified for those purposes.
Using City Names Alone
Some cities are not contained entirely within a single supervisorial district. Jurupa Valley is specifically identified in the reference material as being divided between Districts 1 and 2. An address lookup avoids assigning the supervisor based solely on the city name.
Assuming Every Issue Is Board-Processed
A resident may want an elected supervisor to be aware of a concern, but that does not mean the supervisor’s office directly performs the underlying county transaction. Property records, taxes, licensing, vital records, road issues, and other services have separate departmental channels identified by the county.
Skipping the Meeting Agenda
For matters expected to come before the Board, the current agenda should be reviewed before preparing meeting participation. The Clerk provides distinct tools for the agenda, speaking requests, written comments, proceedings, and videos. Using the tool that matches the intended task is more precise than sending a general inquiry and expecting it to function as formal meeting participation.
Final Department List
Riverside County Clerk of the Board
4080 Lemon Street, 1st Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1069
First District Office
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1010
Second District Office
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1020
Third District Office — County Administrative Center
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1030
Third District — French Valley Office
37600 Sky Canyon Drive #505, Murrieta, CA 92563
(951) 955-1030
Fourth District Office — County Administrative Center
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1040
Fourth District Riverside County Office
78-015 Main Street, Ste. 205, La Quinta, CA 92253
(760) 863-8211
Fifth District Office — County Administrative Center
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor, Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-1050
Fifth District — Beaumont District Office
390 W Oak Valley Pkwy, Beaumont, CA 92223
(951) 955-1050
Fifth District — Cabazon District Office
50391 Carmen Ave., Suite 1, Cabazon, CA 92230
(951) 955-1050
Fifth District — Moreno Valley District Office
14375 Nason St., Suite 207, Moreno Valley, CA 92555
(951) 955-1050
Fifth District — San Jacinto District Office
581 S. Grand Ave., San Jacinto, CA 92582
(951) 955-1050
Board of Supervisors FAQs
Where can I check supervisor pay and benefits?
Riverside County publishes compensation details for individual Board members on its official Elected Officials' Compensation page. The disclosures include annual base salary and, where applicable, health coverage flex credits, equity pay provided in place of annual leave accrual, vehicle allowances, CalPERS employee contribution rates, and county 401(a) contributions. Because compensation can differ among supervisors, check the entry for the specific Board member rather than assuming every member receives the same salary or benefits.
Does the Board calendar include county holidays?
Yes. The Clerk of the Board's Board Calendar identifies county holidays when offices are closed, including dates when an observed holiday differs from the actual holiday. A listed office closure should not be treated as confirmation that a Board meeting was scheduled or canceled, however. When planning to attend or participate in a particular meeting, verify the meeting date through the Clerk's current Board information.
Can a supervisor resolve my legal case?
No. Riverside County's Second District specifically advises constituents that a supervisor cannot assist with legal situations. Residents seeking information about county legal matters may instead review the county's official County Counsel information. Court disputes, private legal representation, and other legal proceedings should not be submitted to a supervisor's office with the expectation that the supervisor can intervene or provide legal advice.
Where should state highway problems be reported?
Problems involving state-owned highways and freeways can be submitted directly through the California Department of Transportation's Customer Service Request system. The system accepts reports involving roadway damage, safety concerns, roadside weeds, encampments, and similar maintenance issues. Riverside County's Second District notes that no account is required and that request status updates can be provided by email.
Are district funding programs available to community groups?
Some opportunities are district-specific. For example, the Second District website publishes information about its Community Improvement Designation program, which provides funding opportunities for qualifying nonprofit organizations, public agencies, schools, and community-based programs serving Second District residents. Applicants should review the current district requirements rather than assuming a program offered in one supervisorial district is available countywide.