Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 75
CHAPTER 104
Relative to Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phillip Campas Memorial Interchange.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
August 01, 2022.
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LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 75, Grove.
Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phillip Campas Memorial Interchange.
This measure would designate the interchange at State Route 65 (post mile R0.000) and State Route 99 (post mile R29.878) in the County of Kern as the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phillip Campas Memorial Interchange. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
YES WHEREAS, Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phillip Campas was born in the City of Bakersfield to his loving parents, Jesse and Christine Campas, and grew up there with his younger sister, Adrianna; and
WHEREAS, Campas attended East Bakersfield High School where he was the starting quarterback and, after graduating high school, Campas joined the United States Marine Corps; and
WHEREAS, Campas was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 as a machine gunner and in 2010, he graduated from a Marine Corps drill instructor school and served in that capacity for the next three years; and
WHEREAS, Campas was dedicated to the Marine Corps, and during his service, Campas was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Marine Corps Drill Instructor Ribbon, and numerous other medals reflecting honorably on his military career; and
WHEREAS, On March 14, 2011, Campas married the love of his life, Christina Nicole Vargas, immediately assumed his role as a father figure to Christina’s son, Eli, and shortly thereafter, Campas and Vargas welcomed two beautiful girls to their family, Camila Rose (2012) and Analissa Mae (2015); and
WHEREAS, In 2015, Campas was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, moved his family back to the City of Bakersfield, and, shortly thereafter, graduated from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office’s Kern Regional Training Center Academy for peace officers, where he was the class leader and received the honor of top overall recruit; and
WHEREAS, In February 2016, Campas was hired by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and started his career as a deputy sheriff; and
WHEREAS, Campas had numerous roles with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, including a patrol deputy, special weapons and tactics team (SWAT) operator, assistant rangemaster, honor guard member, physical training (PT) instructor, and recruit training officer (RTO); and
WHEREAS, In addition to his duties at the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Campas volunteered his time as an instructor and mentor to the teens involved in the Devil Pups organization, where he made a lasting impact challenging, educating, and helping young boys and girls learn self-confidence and responsibility; and
WHEREAS, Campas served his Kern County community faithfully for five years until the end of his watch on Sunday, July 25, 2021; and
WHEREAS, On that afternoon, at approximately 1:00 p.m., deputies from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 dispatch reporting that an armed man, the subject of a restraining order, was at a home near the intersection of 1st Street and Poplar Avenue in the City of Wasco, and that screaming and gunfire could be heard in the background of the 911 call; and
WHEREAS, Responding deputies encountered a woman fleeing the home who stated that at least two people inside the home had been shot, and the suspect then fired at deputies and barricaded himself in the home; and
WHEREAS, The Kern County Sheriff’s Office’s deployed its SWAT team and a standoff ensued; and
WHEREAS, At approximately 3:00 p.m., the suspect opened fire on members of the SWAT team as they approached the home, striking Campas and another deputy, and both deputies were transported to a local hospital where, tragically, Campas succumbed to his wounds; and
WHEREAS, Campas, a devoted father and husband who always smiled as he spoke of his wife and children, is survived by his wife, Christina, and three young children: Analissa Mae (6); Camila Rose (9); and Eli (13); and
WHEREAS, Campas, who had a true love for riding his horse, would saddle up his horse and go for a ride whenever he wanted to decompress, and he also loved going on his annual hunting trip with his father, Jesse; and
WHEREAS, Anyone who spent more than two minutes with Campas instantly liked him; and
WHEREAS, Campas is a true hero and his legacy will never be forgotten; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the interchange at State Route 65 (post mile R0.000) and State Route 99 (post mile R29.878) in the County of Kern as the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phillip Campas Memorial Interchange; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost of the signs for which the donations were made, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.