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The Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously appointed Acting District Attorney Melinda Aiello to serve the remaining two years of Jeff Reisig’s term, making her the first woman to lead the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. The appointment came after the board interviewed three finalists seeking to replace the longtime district attorney.
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Reisig retired in May after 18 years as district attorney. Rather than automatically appointing Aiello, supervisors chose a competitive appointment process to fill the vacancy until the November 2028 election.
Supervisors said they wanted to give multiple candidates an opportunity to compete while ensuring the office remained stable. They also said they did not want an appointee to make significant policy changes before voters could choose the next elected district attorney.
The county accepted applications for about two weeks. Although staff planned to recommend the top three candidates, only three people applied, and all advanced to public interviews after submitting questionnaires and resumes.
The three candidates were Aiello, Sacramento Deputy DA Ron Linthicum and attorney Cynthia Rodriguez, who challenged Reisig in 2022.
Ron Linthicum
Ron Linthicum has been a prosecutor since 1994. After five years with the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, he joined Sacramento’s office, where he worked on the special investigations unit and major narcotics prosecution unit before leading the community prosecution unit, which focuses on community-based, nontraditional prosecutions.
Linthicum has experience leading teams and supervising attorneys. He told the board his greatest strength was the breadth of his experience. Because he has worked on both major cases and restorative, community-based justice, he said he could balance the need to respond to crime while working to prevent it, according to his questionnaire.
In his remarks to the board, Linthicum advocated for a measured approach to justice and said the department needs a shake-up. The biggest challenge facing prosecutors across the state is a lack of public trust, Linthicum said. He has worked under multiple district attorneys and said a change in leadership would not hinder the office if he were appointed.
“Career prosecutors are professionals,” Linthicum said. “They are used to change.”
Cynthia Rodriguez
Cynthia Rodriguez has more than 40 years of legal experience in a wide range of positions. She has worked as a private attorney, public defender, staff counsel for public agencies and a law professor. As general counsel for the California Department of State Hospitals, Rodriguez managed a budget of more than $10 million and oversaw 55 attorneys. Rodriguez ran against Reisig in the June 2022 primary, receiving 40% of the vote.
Rodriguez said she has significant experience managing budgets and department finances. She said the office’s budget lacks transparency and criticized what she described as sizable budget increases over the past five years. In addition to repairing the budget, the department’s biggest challenges are improving the office’s reputation and gaining more public trust, she said.
“I think we need to pay attention to their concerns,” Rodriguez said. “There should be no concerns that we dismiss without at least looking at them.”
Rodriguez said she wants to expand restorative justice when appropriate. She said the office should explore other strategies to resolve cases rather than tying up courtrooms.
“There’s a lot of ways to regulate your case load so you make strategic decisions,” she said.
Supervisors asked candidates about a recent California Supreme Court ruling that criticized Yolo County prosecutors’ use of a judicial disqualification rule to have cases reassigned from the county’s sole Latina judge, leading to allegations of discrimination.
“It’s a vast embarrassment that we got called out in a supreme court footnote,” Rodriguez said.
She said she would not support such challenges.
“You need to go into that courtroom, allow the judiciary their right of assignments to which court, and do it.”
Rodriguez was also critical of the office’s performance under Reisig, citing the Supreme Court criticism and saying the county has lost several high-profile cases this year.
“Strategy has not always been their strong suit.”
Rodriguez was the only candidate without experience as a county prosecutor, but she said that was not an obstacle.
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“Different sides of the aisle have different demands on them,” she said.
She said she prosecuted cases for state agencies and advised on punishments while working for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Rodriguez said that if appointed, she would bring the same values she emphasized during her 2022 campaign.
“I ran on safety, I ran on fairness and I continue to believe that those things are achievable without any disruption to prosecution,” she said.
Melinda Aiello
Melinda Aiello has been a prosecutor for nearly 30 years. She has worked as a deputy DA in Yolo County since 2015 and was appointed chief deputy in 2023. Aiello has prosecuted thousands of cases and served in leadership positions for more than 20 years, according to her questionnaire.
Aiello said one of her greatest qualifications is her current leadership role within the office. Her 10 years working under Reisig will “ensure a seamless leadership transition,” she wrote.
Aiello said the office’s budget will remain one of its biggest challenges in the coming years. During the interview process, she said she would consider fiscal constraints when making spending and hiring decisions.
Reinstating collaborative and treatment courts would be her top priority, she said.
“I think we’ve seen that we can’t incarcerate ourselves out of a problem,” she said. “Restorative justice has been an outstanding program in the District Attorney’s Office.”
Aiello said she would prioritize efficiency in the DA’s operations.
“Court congestion is an incredible concern,” Aiello said. “There are multiple players in the criminal justice system and there have to be open lines of communication about what the issues are.”
She said she has directed her office to move cases quickly and avoid wasting jurors’ time.
“The burning of jurors is not a good use of resources,” she said. The office is already diverting cases when appropriate and filing fewer cases, she said.
Aiello said she has issued guidance to staff regarding judicial disqualification motions following the recent California Supreme Court decision. She said she told prosecutors that an unfavorable ruling from a judge does not, by itself, demonstrate judicial bias. Any judicial disqualification motions filed by her office will be heavily scrutinized, she said.
Several people who attended Tuesday’s final interviews spoke in support of Aiello during public comment.
The Yolo County DA’s Office was united in its support for Aiello, Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hays told supervisors.
“Melinda Aiello knows the job,” Hays said. “She knows Yolo County.”
Aiello is committed to restorative justice and will prioritize collaborative courts, said Jonathan Raven, the former chief deputy DA whom Aiello succeeded.
Seven employees from the office’s victim advocacy team also spoke in support of Aiello, praising her commitment to crime victims.
Aiello “is profoundly curious and deeply respectful of the enforcement work we do,” said Rachel Hilzinger, supervising deputy DA for the office’s consumer fraud and environmental protection division.
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