Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco was ordered by the California Supreme Court on April 8 to halt his investigation into 2025 election fraud allegations so the judges can review the legal challenges that his probe faces.

Bianco, a Republican who is running for California governor, seized more than 500,000 2025 election ballots after allegedly receiving complaints from locals. Then, last month, he seized an additional 1,000 boxes of election materials.

Local election officials told the county Board of Supervisors that his decision to take the ballots was unfounded.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, asked the court to step in and stop the investigation, saying that Bianco did not have authority to take the ballots.

Bianco seized another 426 boxes of ballots last week.

The top court ordered Bianco and his team to “pause the investigation into the November 2025 special election and preserve all seized items.”

“Today’s decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue Sheriff, prohibiting him from continuing this investigation while our litigation continues,” Bonta said in a statement.

The Epoch Times has contacted Bianco’s office for comment.

Bianco’s career in law enforcement extends back 30 years. In 2018, he was elected as the sheriff, coroner, and public administrator of Riverside County.

Bianco entered the crowded California gubernatorial race a little more than a year ago, and edges behind fellow Republican Steve Hilton in the latest Berkeley IGS poll.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who may be eyeing a presidential bid as he exits his current seat in January 2027, applauded the April 8 ruling by the court.

“Today’s decision is a victory for democracy and the rule of law,” Newsom wrote in an X post on April 8.

“This rogue sheriff chased conspiracy theories, tried to undermine our elections, and got the ruling he deserved. [President Donald] Trump and [the Make America Great Again movement’s] election denialism is a cancer, a danger to our democracy, and it must be stopped.”

The judge’s decision came shortly after Bianco criticized President Donald Trump for endorsing Hilton, a former broadcaster, for governor over him, despite his loyalty.

“He is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great State has gone to Hell,” Trump wrote about Hilton in an April 6 Truth Social post.

Trump said Hilton will be able to turn California around and has his “complete and total endorsement.”

“President Trump made his endorsement, that’s his decision, but this race is about the future of California, not any one endorsement,” Bianco responded in an X post on April 7.

“For too long, politicians and insiders from Sacramento to Washington have tried to pick our leaders for us. That’s not leadership, that’s a coronation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.