Allegheny County sheriff sues over ballot referendum to impose term limits

Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus is suing the county, council and County Executive Sara Innamorato over a ballot referendum that he says would illegally impose term limits on his position. 

In April, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Allegheny County passed an ordinance to put a referendum on the ballot in November about establishing 12-year term limits for the county executive, council members and row officers, including the controller, district attorney, sheriff and treasurer.

In the lawsuit filed on Friday morning, Kraus says that while the Pennsylvania Constitution says that the sheriff should have a four-year term, it doesn't set a limit on how many terms. He says the constitution would have to be amended to impose a term limit on the sheriff's office. 

Kraus became the Allegheny County sheriff in 2022, and he was reelected in 2025.

"When the voters elected Kraus to his current term, they did so under a specific legal framework that allowed for unlimited re-election," the lawsuit says. "Changing the rules mid-term disenfranchises the voters by impairing the public's right to representation, effectively nullifying the votes that placed him in office for a specific duration."

A spokesperson for the sheriff's office said the filing is "self-explanatory" and there will be no further comment. KDKA reached out to a spokesperson for Allegheny County and was told no comment.