Madera County, California
Madera County · Madera is the seat · Sacramento is the capital of California · Chowchilla is a city · Oakhurst is remainder · Fresno is a different county
Madera is the seat. Sacramento is the capital. Chowchilla is a city, not the hall. Yosemite is a park, not this government.
Madera County, California, was created 16 May 1893 from Fresno, and named for the Spanish word madera — wood — after the flume town, not for Fresno as the whole valley. Madera is the county seat and the large city. Sacramento is the capital of California. Madera is not the capital. Chowchilla is not the seat. Do not read this page as Autauga-with-almonds. Do not read this page as Fresno-with-a-flume. Prattville is Autauga. Fresno is Fresno. Neither is this oval.
Chowchilla is a city — not the hall. Oakhurst, Coarsegold, North Fork, Bass Lake, Ahwahnee, Raymond, Fairmead, and Madera Ranchos are unincorporated communities — remainder, not a second seat. The southeastern portion of Yosemite National Park sits in this county — NPS is not this government. Valley State Prison and Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla are CDCR — not this county jail.
This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — valley-and-Sierra remainder patrol and Road 28 this badge holds after 2021 — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Madera County.
Five Supervisors at 200 West Fourth. They do not sit as the State Assembly.
Madera is a general law county. A five-member Board of Supervisors, elected by district, sits at 200 West Fourth Street, Madera, CA 93637. They fund roads, the South G courthouse, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Madera City Council is a city body. Chowchilla City Council is a city body. The California Legislature sits in Sacramento. Fresno Board of Supervisors is a different county. None of those is this Board.
Madera Superior Court lists the live hall at 200 South G Street, Madera, CA 93637. The historic courthouse on Yosemite Avenue is a landmark — not the live trial court. Do not invent one granite photograph as the whole map. Confirm live at maderacounty.com and madera.courts.ca.gov.
The Sheriff is a county officer (California Constitution Article XI; Government Code § 24000). This Sheriff is not on the 2026 gubernatorial table. Elections Code § 1300 (AB 759, 2022) moved sheriff and district attorney to the presidential primary. A sheriff elected in 2022 serves a six-year term; the next regular is the 2028 presidential primary. Last regular 7 June 2022. Take office at noon on the first Monday after January 1 succeeding election (Gov. Code § 24200). The Governor is 2026. That is a different desk in Sacramento.
Almonds are a field. SR 41 is a road. Fresno is a different county.
State Route 99, State Route 41, and State Route 145 meet on this map. The San Joaquin Valley floor is west. The Sierra Nevada is east. The south Yosemite approach is geography, not this Sheriff as a park ranger. Fresno is south — Fresno is that hall. Mariposa is north — Mariposa is that hall. Merced is west — Merced is that hall. Staff who paste a Fresno photograph onto Fourth Street, or treat Chowchilla as the county government, or rewrite this county as Autauga-with-almonds, are on the wrong county.
How a valley-and-Sierra public finds Fourth Street, Falcon, Road 28, and South G
Board of Supervisors: 200 West Fourth Street, Madera. Elections (Clerk-Recorder / Registrar of Voters): 200 West Fourth Street — votemadera.com. Sheriff Headquarters: 2725 Falcon Drive — (559) 675-7770. Madera County Jail: 14191 Road 28 — (559) 675-7951. Superior Court: 200 South G Street. Oakhurst Substation: 48267 Liberty Drive. Confirm live at maderacounty.com. A student who only knows a Yosemite postcard, or a Sacramento photograph as this county, or treats VSP as the county jail, has not found this campus.
Road 28 still jails. Madera PD does not. VSP does not. CCWF does not.
Crime in unincorporated Madera — Oakhurst, Coarsegold, North Fork, Bass Lake, Ahwahnee, Raymond, Fairmead, Madera Ranchos, and the remainder — is this Sheriff. Crime in Madera is often Madera Police. Crime in Chowchilla is often Chowchilla Police. This Sheriff is not those municipal departments. Madera County Jail at 14191 Road 28 is this Sheriff’s detention house. A 2021 Board action returned jail management from a county Department of Corrections to the elected Sheriff. Official doors after that reunification did not show a live jailer split — do not invent one.
CDCR is not this Sheriff. VSP and CCWF in Chowchilla are state houses. CHP is a state badge. Yosemite is NPS. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Madera PD, to a Chowchilla CDCR gate, or to Fresno County Jail.
Care without inventing Chowchilla as this hall
A peace order served in unincorporated Coarsegold. A court-ordered transport from Road 28 to South G without becoming Madera PD. Search toward North Fork. Do not invent a church. Do not invent VSP as this oval. Do not invent Sacramento as this hall.
What Madera actually watches
Court calendar on South G. A wreck on SR 99. Fog on the valley floor. Fire in the Sierra. Ice toward Oakhurst. Coordination with Madera PD, Chowchilla PD, CHP, NPS, and CDCR without becoming those departments. Coordination with Fresno’s Sheriff or Mariposa’s Sheriff is mutual aid between two offices, not a merger. Wood is a name. Yosemite is a park. Neither is Madera PD as this oval.
Madera civic snapshot (verify official sources)
- State: California · County: Madera · Seat: Madera · Capital of California: Sacramento
- Map: Madera · Chowchilla · Oakhurst remainder · SR 99 · SR 41 · Sierra National Forest
- Not Chowchilla as the hall · Not the capital · Not VSP as this oval · Not Autauga-with-almonds
- Board: five Supervisors at 200 West Fourth Street
- Sheriff clock: not 2026 · last regular 2022 · next regular 2028 presidential primary · six-year bridge from AB 759
- Jail: 14191 Road 28 — this Sheriff holds it after 2021 reunification · VSP / CCWF are CDCR
Orientation adapted from the California Constitution Article XI, Elections Code § 1300, Government Code §§ 24000, 24200, 25304, and 26600, Madera County official pages (maderacounty.com), Madera Superior Court locations, CDCR facility locator, and the Secretary of State for education. The Sheriff of record is whatever those sources say today. Confirm HQ versus court versus jail, and Chowchilla as a city not the hall, on official pages before you travel.
What Madera is not, as this county
- Not the capital of California. Sacramento is.
- Not Chowchilla as the county government.
- Not Valley State Prison. Not CCWF.
- Not Madera Police as this oval. Not CHP. Not NPS as this government.
- Not Fresno County. Not Yosemite as this oval.
- Not Autauga-with-almonds. Not Fresno-with-a-flume.
- Not the Governor (that desk is 2026 in Sacramento).
- Not a campaign flyer.