Benton, California Public Records

Public safety in Benton is provided by the Mono County Sheriff's Office, which maintains a presence in the town and the surrounding areas. The sheriff's office is responsible for law enforcement, emergency response, and the operation of the county jail facility. Residents of Benton can contact the Mono County Sheriff's Office for assistance with any public safety concerns or to report incidents within the community.

Benton, California voters are served by the Mono County Clerk-Recorder, which administers elections for all of Mono County. The Mono County Elections Office is located at 74 North School Street, Annex II, Bridgeport, CA 93517, phone (760) 932-5530, website https://monocounty.ca.gov/elections. California residents, including those in Benton, can register to vote online at https://registertovote.ca.gov/, which is the California Secretary of State's official voter registration portal. Registration deadlines are 15 days before any election, though California also offers conditional voter registration up through Election Day at designated locations. To register, applicants must be U.S. citizens, California residents, at least 18 years old by Election Day, and not currently serving a state or federal prison term for a felony conviction. Benton is an unincorporated community with no municipal government, so there are no city council or mayoral elections; residents vote in county, state, and federal elections only. Mono County holds elections for the five-member Board of Supervisors (staggered four-year terms), with specific districts up for election in different cycles. Benton residents can find their assigned polling place by visiting the California Secretary of State's polling place lookup at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/polling-place/ or by contacting the Mono County Elections Office. California is a vote-by-mail state where all registered voters automatically receive mail-in ballots; Benton voters receive their ballots approximately 29 days before each election and can return them by mail (postmarked by Election Day) or at official drop boxes and voting centers. In the November 2024 presidential election, Mono County reported approximately 57% voter turnout, with around 3,600 ballots cast from approximately 6,300 registered voters countywide. The November 3, 2026 general election will feature California statewide offices including Governor (four-year term), all constitutional officers (Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction), California State Assembly representatives (two-year terms for all 80 seats), half of the 40 California State Senate seats (four-year terms), and potentially U.S. House of Representatives seats depending on redistricting. No U.S. Senate seat from California is up in 2026 (next in 2028). Mono County offices on the 2026 ballot may include Sheriff, District Attorney, Assessor, Auditor-Controller, and Board of Supervisors seats depending on term cycles. Benton voters will also decide on any countywide ballot measures and state propositions. Election records that are public in California include voter registration rosters (with certain personal information redacted), campaign finance reports through the California Fair Political Practices Commission at http://www.fppc.ca.gov/, candidate statements and filings, precinct-level election results, and initiative/referendum petitions. The Mono County Elections Office publishes detailed election results by precinct on their website after each election, showing vote totals for Benton and other communities.