OAKLAND — Royl Roberts, the newly-minted attorney who led the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for about two months after his boss was ousted in a recall election, resigned from his post this week.
Roberts departure — effective Friday — marks the second significant staffing change since District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson took office on Feb. 18 as part of an unprecedented transition of power atop the East Bay’s justice system. His resignation follows the ouster of former Chief of Inspectors Eric Lewis, who was walked out of the office a day after Jones Dickson was sworn in.
In a statement, Jones Dickson voiced appreciation for Roberts’ work, saying, “I want to thank Mr. Roberts for his service to our office and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Roberts on Thursday framed his departure as a “mutual agreement” after having had a discussion with Jones Dickson. The move was expected, given Jones Dickson’s publicly stated plans to bring in former longtime Alameda County prosecutor Annie Esposito to serve as her second-in-command.
“It’s important that DA Jones Dickson has all of the leadership positions that she wants within the office,” Roberts told this news organization Thursday. “And I think she wanted to bring in some people who she had talked about all the way along the process.”
“I think they’re equipped to keep moving forward,” Roberts added. “And like I said from the beginning, my goal has always been to do whatever is best of the office.”
Roberts said he has to finalize where he’ll work next, adding that he has “a few irons in the fire.”
Roberts briefly led the office from Dec. 6 through mid-February after his former boss – civil rights lawyer-turned District Attorney Pamela Price — was recalled from office in November amid an unprecedented landslide election.
Until that point, he had largely remained a key, behind-the-scenes member of Price’s executive team — brought on by her to serve as one of her two top lieutenants, alongside Otis Bruce Jr., a longtime Marin County prosecutor. Roberts largely handled administrative, personnel and budgetary matters, while Bruce mostly oversaw prosecutorial decisions.
His arrival at the district attorney’s office during the early days of Price’s administration in 2023 came as a surprise to some, given he had only been admitted to the State Bar of California roughly six months earlier. Previously, he briefly served as general counsel of the Peralta Community College District, as well as special assistant and chief of staff to the college’s chancellor, and a personnel and diversity director.
He opted against applying to be Price’s successor, despite having pulled an application for the job in late December.
His brief stint at the district attorney’s office earned plaudits from Alameda County supervisors Nate Miley and David Haubert last month, who lauded him for leading the office through a turbulent, never-before-seen stretch. The Board of Supervisors ultimately selected Jones Dickson for the job.
“You’ve done an exemplary job,” Miley said of Roberts in remarks from the dais on Jan. 28, adding that “you’ve done a very admirable service to the residents of Alameda County.”
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.