The Humboldt County public has invested a lot of taxpayer money in building up the Sheriff’s Office’s social media channels. As of today, the HCSO boasts an admirable 41,000 Facebook fans, plus or minus, along with roughly 18,600 Instagram followers and 3,957 followers on Twitter.

On Friday, some of those resources were deployed in an effort to rally followers to oppose civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, which the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will consider (again) tomorrow. In posts to Facebook and Instagram, the Sheriff’s Office listed the contact information for each member of the board, and urged people to make their feelings on civilian oversight heard, while at the same time arguing that civilian oversight is completely unnecessary and/or insidious.

“We want to remind the community that the Sheriff is elected by the people and accountable to the people,” the post read. “The Sheriff is elected to provide independent oversight and law enforcement services to the entire county, not to cater to special interests.”

You can see the full message below, if you have a Facebook account.

Is that an OK use of public resources?