Robert B. Presley

Robert B. Presley was born December 4, 1924 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He was the Riverside County Undersheriff for 12 years before his election to the California Senate in 1974. The Robert Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies was established at the University of California Riverside in 1994. Presley worked with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for 24 years, served in the state Senate from 1975 to 1994, was chairman of the California Youthful Offender Parole Board from 1995 to 1999, and served as secretary of the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency from 1999 to 2003. He was elected to the California State Senate, representing the 36th district from 1975 to 1995. A Democrat, he ran unsuccessfully for the Board of Equalization in 1994. During World War II, he served in the United States Army.