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530 UTOPIAN Fact sheet · Receipts included · October 2026

The discretion they already have

The County already decides which complaints to act on and how hard to push. It has even written that it may weigh revenge. It has no rule for when it should, and no record of when it does.

Print it: two-page PDF

Eight calls the County already gets to make

  1. 01Enforce or not

    Violations “may be prosecuted.” A county “is not liable” for “failing to enforce any law.”

    State law12

  2. 02Pick which complaints

    Code Compliance has “sole authority to decide complaints or violations.”

    The department, as quoted by the 2003–04 civil grand jury3

  3. 03Set the order

    The Director “may consider such factors as chronic reporting parties, complaints that are generated as part of a neighbor against neighbor feud, and other actions where the complaint appears to be a vehicle to use the Code Compliance Division to retaliate or punish another party.”

    Director’s memo to the Board, January 2025. Never adopted.4

  4. 04Decide if it’s real

    “All complaints must be verified before any action is taken on our part.”

    County FAQ5

  5. 05Stay out of private fights

    “The County does not enforce easement disputes.”

    County FAQ5

  6. 06Set the fine

    Fines are “at the sole discretion of the enforcement officer.”

    County Code7

  7. 07Skip a repeat complaint

    The County can pass over a complaint, even a tenant’s, if the same person’s last one about the property in the past 180 days was “frivolous or unfounded.”

    State housing law6

  8. 08Turn a person away

    “In severe cases … may elect to no longer accept complaint s from a specific person.”

    2022 draft County manual, never adopted8. Placer County’s Board took up the same power in 2022.9

Adopted County rules that say how to use any of this on a revenge complaintNone

The gap

  1. No rule“May consider” sits in a workshop memo. The Board took no action on it. It can move a case down the line. It can’t stop one.4
  2. No questionThe complaint form is signed, not sworn. It never asks if you’re in a fight with the owner.10
  3. No recordAsked in writing why a case was opened, the County said it holds no record of that.11

2022 to 2025: the power got smaller

2022 draft2025 memo
Weigh feuds and revengeYesYes
Stop taking a person’s complaintsYes, “in severe cases”Gone
Staffing counts tooYesYes
What it controlsThe orderThe order

What it can’t touch

  1. 01A tenant’s request to inspect their own home can’t be refused because of a dispute with the owner.6
  2. 02Substandard housing the County confirms has to be acted on, no matter who reported it or why.12

Any fix has to keep both.

The opening

The Department is currently undertaking a comprehensive update of the Code Compliance Policy and Procedure Manual.

Staff to the Board, January 2026.13 None of the goals they listed mention feuds or revenge.

What the new manual should say

  1. The complaint form asks about disputes with the owner, and it’s signed under penalty of perjury.
  2. A complaint that follows a threat or a refused demand gets a written review before the case moves.
  3. Every case records why it was opened.

Tell the supervisors what belongs in it.

(530) UTOPIAN · 530 886 7426 · 530utopian.help

Receipts

  1. 1[CODIFIED] Gov. Code § 25132(a). california.public.law/codes/government_code_section_25132
  2. 2[CODIFIED] Gov. Code § 818.2. [PUBLISHED] Riggs v. City of Oxnard (1984) 154 Cal.App.3d 526: courts decline to order a particular method of enforcement.
  3. 3[PUBLISHED] Nevada County Civil Grand Jury, “Code Compliance in Nevada County,” 2003–04. nevada.courts.ca.gov/system/files/0304-cog-nevadacountycodecomp.pdf [UNVERIFIED] Which County document the jury was quoting.
  4. 4[PUBLISHED] Board workshop memo, Jan. 23, 2025 (SR 25-0089), pp. 2–3. A workshop item; the Board took no action. 530utopian.help/assets/docs/nevada-county-board-workshop-memo-2025-01-23.pdf
  5. 5[PUBLISHED] Nevada County Code Compliance FAQ. nevadacountyca.gov/m/faq?cat=73
  6. 6[CODIFIED] Health & Safety Code § 17970.5(c)(2), (g). california.public.law/codes/health_and_safety_code_section_17970.5
  7. 7[CODIFIED] Nevada County Code § 12.05.220 (Ord. 2491, 2021, as amended).
  8. 8[PUBLISHED] Code Compliance Policy & Procedure Guidelines, 2022 draft, 35 pp. The County’s copy at nevadacountyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/44366 returned “page not found” Oct. 2, 2026; read in the Internet Archive’s capture of Mar. 20, 2025. web.archive.org/web/20250320153121. The stray space in “complaint s” is the County’s.
  9. 9[PUBLISHED] Placer County Board of Supervisors, item 10A, Dec. 6, 2022. placer.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/65552/10A
  10. 10[PUBLISHED] Nevada County complaint form, “Investigation Services Request.” nevadacountyca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15900
  11. 11[OBSERVED] A County public-records response in the campaign’s files, described here by its shape only.
  12. 12[CODIFIED] Health & Safety Code §§ 17960, 17980.
  13. 13[PUBLISHED] Board agenda memo, “Code Compliance Division Update,” Jan. 29, 2026 (SR 25-2340), information only. 530utopian.help/assets/docs/nevada-county-code-compliance-memo-2026-01-29.pdf
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Do something

Three things you can do alone.

  1. 01Write the Board, or speak to it.How
  2. 02Ask why your case was opened.How
  3. 03Tell one neighbor how this works.How
Call the line (530) UTOPIAN 5 3 0 · 8 8 6 · 7 4 2 6

Call about the letter on your table, or the rule behind it. The line doesn’t stop at the county line — there’s a Midway out past it, and it’s open.

We’re not the County. Not an emergency line. Nobody here’s a real person.