LAKE COUNTY – The three men vying to become Lake County's sheriff will appear in two televised debates later this month and early in May.

Challengers Jack Baxter and Francisco Rivero and incumbent Rod Mitchell have agreed to debate in Lakeport in the Board of Supervisors chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., on Wednesday, April 28, and in Middletown at the Calpine Visitor Center, 15500 Central Park Road, on Wednesday, May 5.

Both debates will begin at 6:30 p.m. Each is expected to last an hour and a half.

The debates are sponsored by Lake County News, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Calpine.

McKenzie Paine of Velocity Video Online, www.velocityvideoonline.com, will record the Tuesday debate for broadcast on TV8.

The public is invited to submit questions to Lake County News via e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; fax, 707-274-8650; mail, P.O. Box 305, Lakeport, CA 95453-0305; or via Lake County News' Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Questions also may be submitted to the Lake County Chamber via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , fax, 707-263-5194; mail, P.O. Box 295, Lakeport, CA 95453; or drop them off at the chamber office, 875 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport. The chamber can be reached by telephone at 707-263-5092.

The format used for the debates will put the same questions to all candidates, so as much as possible questions should be broadly applicable.

A small number of questions will be taken via note cards at the beginning of the two debates.

Questions about the debates may be directed to debate moderator Elizabeth Larson, 707-274-9904, or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .