Robert B. Presley (December 4, 1924 – September 22, 2018) was an American politician who served as a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

from 1975 to 1994.

Personal life, education, and Career

Presley was born in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...

in 1924. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, and then worked with the

Riverside County Sheriff's Department The Riverside County Sheriff's Department (RCSD or RSD), also known as the Riverside Sheriff's Office (RSO), is a law enforcement agency in Riverside County, in the U.S. state of California. Overseen by an elected sheriff-coroner, the department ...

for 24 years, with 12 years as a Riverside County Undersheriff. Elected in 1974 on the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

ticket, Presley served in the California State Senate from 1975 to 1994 representing

California's 36th State Senate district California's 36th State Senatorial district is one of 40 California California State Senate, State Senate districts. It is currently represented by of . District profile The district straddles the Orange County, California, Orange-San Die ...

. He then ran unsuccessfully for the California's State Board of Equalization in 1994, but became Chairman of the California Youthful Offender Parole Board from 1995 to 1999, and then served as secretary of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency from 1999 to 2003. During this time, upon his retirement from the Legislature, Presley also served two terms as president of the California State Board of Podiatric Medicine (BPM), which had brought in James H. Rathlesberger as executive officer to be a change agent working with consumer advocates like Presley and

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 12th Distr ...

. BPM was the first State agency to support a series of “Presley Bills” in the Legislature aiming to reform physician discipline. https://issuu.com/elvesrock/docs/cpma_2013_apmayjune Presley helped guide the BPM through legislative challenges and lent prestige to the efforts for majorities of public members on State licensing boards. The latter failed in the face of stiff resistance from professional societies and the Medical Board of California itself.Board of Podiatric Medicine Sunset Report in Brief, November 3, 1997 The Robert Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies was established at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

in 1994, and when the

County of Riverside Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

built a new central jail in

downtown Riverside Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and i ...

, the new facility was named after him also.

References

External links

Join California Robert B. Presley
* https://www.pmbc.ca.gov/forms_pubs/fssunset.pdf * https://www.pmbc.ca.gov/forms_pubs/rppmm.pdf * https://issuu.com/elvesrock/docs/cpma_2013_apmayjune United States Army personnel of World War II 2018 deaths 1924 births People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma Democratic Party California state senators 20th-century American politicians {{california-politician-stub