Northern California city asks court to order Sheriff’s Office to continue services
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- Willows filed a civil lawsuit seeking court injunction to continue sheriff services.
- The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office said its contract with Willows will end June 30.
- The city seeks temporary relief to keep current law enforcement services during talks.
A small Northern California city is seeking a court injunction that would order its county’s Sheriff’s Office to continue providing law enforcement services to its residents as they negotiate a new contract.
The City of Willows filed a civil lawsuit in Glenn Superior Court to give them more time to negotiate a new contract with the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office. The current contract ends June 30, and sheriff’s officials announced earlier this week they will stop providing law enforcement services to Willows when the contract ends.
“The city is willing to pay for law enforcement services at a level that is lawful, reasonable, financially sustainable, and the product of good-faith negotiations,” Willows officials said in a news release Thursday. “The city further maintains that it values its longstanding partnership with the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office and remains committed to ensuring uninterrupted law enforcement services for the Willows community.”
Willows scrapped its city-run Police Department in 2017 and transitioned to contracted services from the Sheriff’s Office. Willows, which is about 85 miles north of Sacramento, had a population of about 6,300 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, just over one-fifth of Glenn County’s nearly 29,000 residents.
Law enforcement contract ends June 30
On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said its $2.3 million contract with the City of Willows will be terminated at the end of this month. Sheriff’s officials said the cost of providing law enforcement services is currently $3.4 million a year, which results in a loss of nearly $1 million for Glenn County.
“This is unsustainable,” sheriff’s officials said in Tuesday’s news release. “The county cannot continue to fund city services as the county budget deficit grows.”
The Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to transition services back to Willows. Sheriff’s officials said they’ve been forced to make decisions on how to proceed after the contract expires, because Willows officials’ “unresponsiveness” during this transition.
The Sheriff’s Office presented two proposals for a new contract on Jan. 22. Willows officials said the first proposal would increase the annual contract amount to $3.4 million, and the second proposal would require Willows to hire a police chief while increasing the contract to $2.8 million.
On Feb. 9, Willows offered a counterproposal that would increase the contract amount using the consumer price index, then about 3%, plus an additional 1%. Willows’ proposal increased the contract to $2.4 million in the next fiscal year with CPI-based adjustments in subsequent years.
Willows officials said the annual contract costs were $1.5 million during a 2022 negotiation with the Sheriff’s Office, and the sheriff’s January 2026 proposal would increase the costs to about 120% over the past four years.
The Sheriff’s Office sent an email to Willows officials on Feb. 18. In the email, sheriff’s officials rejected the counterproposal and remained firm on the Jan. 22 proposals, according to the Willows news release.
Willows then twice requested an informal meeting with the Sheriff’s Office, the Glenn County Board of Supervisors, and the county’s administrator to discuss concerns regarding the current contract and the proposals. Willows officials said Grant Carmon, board chair, agreed to the meeting; county and sheriff’s officials would not agree to meet.
California public records request
Willows officials on March 18 initiated a mediation request regarding the law enforcement services contract with the Sheriff’s Office. They also submitted a California Public Records Act request seeking information related to the provision of law enforcement services. As of Thursday, Willows officials said they have not received complete responses to that request.
On March 23, Sheriff Justin Gibbs notified Willows officials that their agreement for law enforcement services, which includes animal control, would end after the existing contract. Sheriff’s officials said Willows’ jurisdiction accounts for 56% of the law enforcement caseload for the Sheriff’s Office. Willows is the seat of Glenn County.
Willows officials said they believe the sheriff’s March 23 letter may have been sent in retaliation to the city’s Public Records Act request. They said that before receiving the sheriff’s letter they “understood that negotiations remained ongoing and believed there was still an opportunity to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.”
The city filed the lawsuit against the county on Tuesday. Court records show a case management conference hearing is scheduled for July 8.
“The court filing seeks temporary relief to maintain existing law enforcement services while the parties continue negotiations and the legal issues presented in the petition are resolved,” Willows officials said in the news release.
This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 5:03 PM.
