We Requested and Received Judge Clay Brennan’s Retirement Notice—We Didn’t Expect This
We requested Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Clay Brennan’s retirement announcement under the California Public Records Act (CPRA). The courts informed us that, by statute, the CPRA does not apply to judicial branch records.
However, Mendocino County Court Executive Kim Turner released the email anyway—under the proper authority: California Rule of Court 10.500, which governs public access to judicial administrative records.
Thanks to Turner for honoring the spirit of transparency.
With the legal authority clarified, what followed was a stunningly brief retirement notice—and a narrow window of time.
We’d welcome the chance to speak with Judge Brennan directly. What we do know: after nearly 19 years serving on the bench in Fort Bragg, Brennan was reassigned to split his time between Fort Bragg and Ukiah, where he was tasked with handling the lowest-level cases.
We don’t know who made that call. But we’d wager it wasn’t Judge Brennan.
To make matters worse, whenever Judge Brennan so much as picked up a criminal calendar to handle routine tasks, District Attorney David Eyster would promptly recuse him.
Everyone in the court system and media knows: Eyster had it in for Brennan.
In a press release about a criminal case, Eyster inserted the following into the document:
“At a November 2022 probation violation sentencing hearing before coast Judge Clayton Brennan, the imposition of the suspended state prison sentence that should have happened did not happen. Instead, Judge Brennan simply ordered the defendant to serve the original local jail sentence that was part of her probation from December 2021 that she had not yet begun to serve plus 60 extra county jail days.”
The jab at Judge Brennan felt misplaced—unnecessary and out of step with the gravity of the case.
Worse still, the release barely scratched the surface of a heartbreaking story and seems to misconstrue what the court documents say about the case.
We’ve watched a lot of cases—but the DA taking on the judge tale has veered off The Deep End more than once.
And no, we don’t mean Navarro. (Though in Boontling, that’s The Deep End too.)
A resignation letter with just one week’s notice—and no explanation—deserves more. Many in the courts expected him to complete 20 years then retire and to go out with the expected retirement parties and transition his replacement or replacements. But then the calendar was shuffled and Brennan ended up handling small claims cases and eviction cases in Ukiah then back to Fort Bragg for the criminal calendar. A large number of shifts have been made that impact the judicial system, with little or not publicity being put out about them.
Judge Clay Brennan gave the Coast nearly two decades of service. That legacy calls for clarity, not silence.
We’d welcome a conversation anytime, Clay. The community deserves to hear your story.
Here is the resignation letter…in full
From:
Clay Brennan
Friday, October 24, 2025 2:48 PM
To Keith Faulder; Carly Dolan; Kim Turner
Re: Retirement
Dear Keith, Carly and Kim,
After a lot of thought and consideration, I no longer feel I cancontinue working for the Court. Effective Friday, October 31 at 5:00 p.m. I am retiring.
–Clay
