Sacramento probation chief tapped to become Superior Court’s executive officer

Sacramento County’s chief probation officer has been selected to serve as the next executive officer for Sacramento Superior Court.

Lee Seale will begin work in the position in June, replacing retired Judge Lloyd Connelly, according to an announcement Monday by Presiding Judge Russell L. Hom.

Seale, who was selected by a unanimous vote of the court’s judges, has served as probation chief since April 2013, and previously held positions in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation under Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown.

Seale has focused on removing illegal weapons from the streets and in recent months has investigated an uptick in crime attributed to weapons being purchased with funds from California Employment Development Department fraud cases.