Lieutenant Brandon Thomas

Lieutenant Brandon Thomas grew up in Merced County. He began his law enforcement career with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in 2005. A year later, he became a full-time patrol, Deputy.

Early in his career, Lieutenant Thomas was selected to join the Merced County Sheriff’s Office Regional SWAT Team. In 2007, he was chosen to be a Field Training Officer and a Range Instructor. He continues to teach basic and advanced firearms skills, rifle schools, and critical incident response to law enforcement personnel.  

Lieutenant Thomas continued his contributions to the Merced County Sheriff's Office when he became a member of our AG-STAR Team, where he proactively investigated agricultural crimes within the County and surrounding areas. Lieutenant Thomas was later assigned to the Supervised Release Team (SRT). He oversaw individuals who were on the electronic monitoring system and investigated all jail-related crimes. In 2014, Lieutenant Thomas completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Management from Union Institute and University.

As a newly promoted Sergeant in 2019, he was assigned to the Corrections Bureau for a short time before being selected as the Administrative Sergeant. As the Administrative Sergeant, Lieutenant Thomas oversaw the hiring and background processes for both sworn and civilian applicants applying to the Sheriff’s Office.

During this time, he was also in charge of overall training for the Corrections and Operations Bureau while supervising the Field Training Program, Public Information Deputy, Social Media Coordinator, and the Office’s School Resource Deputies.

In November 2022, Thomas was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to the Corrections Bureau. He oversees our Main Jail facility, Court Security Services, the Supervised Release Team, and the Jail Training Program.