Statement to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors

Re: Serious and Ongoing Pattern of Misconduct by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff — Violations of California SB 54

SUMMARY

There is a human rights crisis taking place in our county. It is happening at the doors of our own county jail, in broad daylight, under the watch of a Sheriff sworn to uphold the law and a Board that has been told, over and over, exactly what is happening and exactly how to stop it.

This is not the first time you are hearing this. On January 27, you learned directly from this community about violations of the TRUTH Act. On April 8, you voted 3-2 to ban ICE from commandeering county property and to require judicial warrants for access to non-public county spaces. Between April and June, community members documented three separate violations of that very vote at the county jail — Sheriff's deputies present and facilitating, no judicial warrant, no consequences. On June 16, you passed a second resolution restating the same protections you had already promised us in April.

On July 26, this community held a peaceful sit-in at the SLO County Jail lobby, marking each date someone was taken with 77 seconds of silence — one second for every person disappeared. On July 28, we carried that same demand into your own chambers.

None of it has worked. Not our actions. Not our statements. Not the eyewitness accounts. Not the data. Nothing has moved this Board to take decisive action and stop this collusion and this dereliction of duty. Every meeting we do not act is another person taken.

Now is the time to act.

THE LAW

Under Government Code § 7284.6(a)(1)(B), California law enforcement may not detain any individual on the basis of an ICE hold request — for any amount of time, regardless of conviction history. There is no exception for serious or violent offenses. The California Attorney General's own guidance confirms this. The only cooperation SB 54 allows at all is limited notification and voluntary transfer at the moment of scheduled release, and only for individuals with specific qualifying convictions — never an extension of custody.

THE PATTERN

81 individuals abducted by ICE at or through the county jail so far this year. Six of those came in the past week alone — the Sheriff allowed ICE activity at the jail six of seven days. Five of the six had been processed, cited, and given arraignment dates weeks out; they were legally cleared to return to their families. One was released pursuant to an explicit judicial order. All six were abducted on county property, at the jail doors, at the exact moment they were entitled to walk free.

THE VIOLATION

Holding someone past their legal release time to facilitate an ICE abduction is not a gray area, not a technicality, not a policy dispute. It is a direct violation of Government Code § 7284.6(a)(1)(B), full stop — and this Board has known it for months.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING OF THIS BOARD

• Formally investigate how ICE is consistently obtaining exact release-time information from the jail.
• Enforce strict, written boundaries prohibiting any extension of custody time for the Sheriff to hand people to ICE.
• Require documented accountability from the Sheriff for every instance a legally mandated release was not honored.