SECTIONS 26600-26616 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 26600-26616

26600. The sheriff shall preserve peace, and to accomplish this
object may sponsor, supervise, or participate in any project of crime
prevention, rehabilitation of persons previously convicted of crime,
or the suppression of delinquency.

26601. The sheriff shall arrest and take before the nearest
magistrate for examination all persons who attempt to commit or who
have committed a public offense.

26602. The sheriff shall prevent and suppress any affrays, breaches
of the peace, riots, and insurrections that come to his or her
knowledge, and investigate public offenses which have been committed.
The sheriff may execute all orders of the local health officer
issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious or
communicable disease.

26604. The sheriff shall command the aid of as many inhabitants of
the sheriff's county as he or she thinks necessary in the execution
of his or her duties.

26605. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except in
counties in which the sheriff, as of July 1, 1993, is not in charge
of and the sole and exclusive authority to keep the county jail and
the prisoners in it, the sheriff shall take charge of and be the sole
and exclusive authority to keep the county jail and the prisoners in
it, except for work furlough facilities where by county ordinance
the work furlough administrator is someone other than the sheriff.

26605.1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no deputy
sheriff shall be required to become a custodial or other officer
involuntarily.

26605.5. (a) The sheriff has the authority, after conferring with a
physician who is neither a county employee nor under a preexisting
contract with the county, to release from a county correctional
facility for transfer to a medical facility or residential care
facility, a prisoner whose physical condition, in the opinion of the
examining physician, is such that he or she is rendered incapable of
causing harm to others upon or after release from custody. Prior to
authorizing the release, however, the sheriff shall first determine
that all of the following conditions exist:
(1) The prisoner, upon diagnosis by the examining physician, is
deemed to be so severely physically incapacitated that he or she
poses no threat to the safety of others.
(2) The examining physician has no reasonable expectation that the
prisoner's physical condition will improve to the extent that he or
she could pose a threat to the safety of others.
(3) The prisoner's medical needs would be better served in a
medical facility or residence other than a county correctional
facility.
(b) Prior to the release of any prisoner pursuant to this section,
the sheriff shall notify the presiding judge of the superior court
of his or her intention to transfer a severely incapacitated prisoner
to a medical facility or residence for the provision of medical care
and other services. This notification shall include:
(1) The prisoner's name.
(2) The offense or offenses for which the prisoner was
incarcerated, if applicable, and the pending charges, if applicable.
(3) The date of sentence, if applicable.
(4) The physician's diagnosis of the prisoner's condition.
(5) The physician's prognosis for the prisoner's recovery.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the
sheriff to refuse to receive and incarcerate a defendant or sentenced
individual who is not in need of immediate medical care or who has a
terminal medical condition.

26607. The sheriff shall endorse upon all process and notices the
year, month, day, hour, and minute of reception and on payment of
fees issue to the person delivering it a certificate showing the
names of the parties, title of paper, and time when received.

26608. The sheriff shall serve all process and notices in the
manner prescribed by law.

26608.1. The sheriff, when serving any process or notice, shall, if
the instructions to the sheriff include a request for a certificate
as prescribed by the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act of 1940 as
amended (50 United States Code Appendix, Section 520) make inquiry of
the person served to attempt to ascertain the information required
to execute a certificate as prescribed by said act. He shall then
execute and deliver to the party requesting service, a certificate as
provided by said act or a certificate setting forth the facts as
ascertained by him.

26608.2. Whenever a county or city and county owns land in another
county, it may request the sheriff of that county to deputize its
officers or employees as deputy sheriffs so that they may perform
police duties solely upon said land. The sheriff may appoint such
deputies.

26608.3. (a) In Shasta County, the board of supervisors by
ordinance or resolution may transfer from the sheriff to the marshal
of the Shasta County Superior Court the duty to serve all writs,
notices, and other process issued by any state court, or other
competent authority.
(b) After adoption of the ordinance or resolution pursuant to
subdivision (a), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, in
Shasta County the marshal shall have the duty to serve all writs,
notices, and other process issued by any state court or other
competent authority, and the sheriff shall be relieved of any
obligation imposed by Section 26608 and any liability imposed by
Section 26663 or 26664.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the
responsibility or authority of a private person or registered process
server from serving process and notices in the manner prescribed by
law, nor shall it limit the authority of the sheriff or any other
peace officer to serve warrants of arrest or other process
specifically directed by a court to the sheriff or any other peace
officer.

26609. The sheriff shall certify upon process or notices the manner
and time of service, or if he fails to make service, the reason of
his failure, and return the process or notices without delay.

26610. The sheriff of any county which maintains a jail in another
county has the same control and supervision of the property,
personnel, and inmates that he would have if the jail were located
within the boundaries of the county which maintains it.

26611. The sheriff in attendance upon court shall act as the crier
thereof. He shall call the parties and witnesses and all other
persons bound to appear at the court and make proclamation of the
opening and adjournment of the court and of any other matter under
its direction.

26612. The sheriff may supply ambulance service within the county
to any person if all of the following conditions exist:
(a) The person has been rendered so desperately ill, whether by
sudden sickness or accident, that immediate hospitalization is
necessary in order to save life or limb.
(b) His condition is such that he is not able himself to arrange
for ambulance transportation.
(c) No relatives or friends provide such services.
(d) Immediate transportation to the hospital cannot be obtained
except by extending the credit of the county.
(e) Ambulance service is not available or cannot be obtained
within the time necessary in order to save life or limb from any
other department, bureau, or agency of the county which is authorized
by law to furnish the service.

26613. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 29601 the board of
supervisors in a county having a population in excess of 3,000,000
may authorize the sheriff to enforce the provisions of the Vehicle
Code in the unincorporated area of such county but only upon county
highways. The expense incurred by the sheriff in the performance of
such duties shall be a proper county charge.
The sheriff shall, on or before the fifth day of each month,
forward to the Department of the California Highway Patrol copies of
all accident reports made to the sheriff's office and all accident
reports of accidents investigated by the sheriff's office.

26614. The board of supervisors of a county may authorize the
sheriff to search for and rescue persons who are lost or are in
danger of their lives within or in the immediate vicinity of the
county. The expense incurred by the sheriff in the performance of
those duties shall be a proper county charge. Authorization for
search and rescue activities shall be consistent with guidelines and
operating plans contained in the Search and Rescue Model Operating
Plan, as developed and adopted by the California Emergency Management
Agency in consultation with fire protection and law enforcement
service providers. The California Emergency Management Agency shall
make the plan available to counties and fire protection and law
enforcement agencies for use and adoption by the board of supervisors
and the governing boards of all search and rescue providers. If the
board assigns responsibility for search and rescue activities in a
manner that is inconsistent with these model operating guidelines,
the board shall adopt a resolution to clarify why the local model
provides better protections than the Search and Rescue Model
Operating Plan, as developed by the California Emergency Management
Agency, to residents in need of county search and rescue services.
Counties are encouraged to adopt their countywide search and rescue
plans and to review them on a regular basis. A review of a countywide
search and rescue plan shall include, but is not limited to, changes
made to the Search and Rescue Model Operating Plan by the California
Emergency Management Agency. This section shall not be construed to
vest any additional powers for search and rescue upon sheriffs or any
other public safety agency that provides search and rescue.

26614.5. The county or city and county of residence of a person
searched for or rescued by the sheriff under the authority of Section
26614 shall pay to the county or city and county conducting such
search or rescue, in any case where the expenses thereof exceed one
hundred dollars ($100), all of the reasonable expenses in excess of
one hundred dollars ($100) of such search or rescue within 30 days
after the submission of a claim therefor by the county or city and
county conducting the search or rescue and the county or city and
county conducting the search or rescue shall bear the remaining
expense.

26615. The sheriff shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, a
directory of specially trained dogs or dog teams with proven ability
in search and rescue operations as one of the possible methods to be
used under the authority of Section 26614. The directory shall
include, but not be limited to, the location and previous experience
of such dog or dog teams.

26616. Upon the application of a licensee under the Private
Investigator and Adjuster Act (commencing with Section 7500 of the
Business and Professions Code), the sheriff shall furnish such
licensee with a report stating whether any employee, or proposed
employee, of such licensee has ever been convicted of a crime
involving moral turpitude or the illegal possession of a dangerous
weapon or of a felony; provided, that the information contained in
the sheriff's report to the applying licensee shall be only a
statement of whether or not a conviction of such a crime has
occurred. The sheriff may charge a fee sufficient to cover the costs
of furnishing such report. The application shall include:
(a) The full name, residence address, telephone number, date and
place of birth, and the social security number of the employee or
proposed employee.
(b) Three recent photographs of the employee or proposed employee
of a type prescribed by the sheriff, and three classifiable sets of
his fingerprints.
(c) Such other information, evidence, statements, or documents as
may be required by the sheriff.
(d) A signed statement by the employee or proposed employee
consenting to the application for such information.