By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The City of Willows, Calif., filed a civil lawsuit in Glenn Superior Court this week seeking a court order requiring the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office to continue providing law enforcement services past the June 30, 2026, expiration of its current $2.3 million annual contract.
- The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday it will terminate services to Willows when the contract ends, stating the actual cost of providing services is $3.4 million annually, resulting in an annual loss of nearly $1 million to the county.
- Willows, a city of approximately 6,300 residents located about 85 miles north of Sacramento, eliminated its city-run police department in 2017 and has since contracted with the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement and animal control services; Willows’ jurisdiction accounts for 56% of the Sheriff’s Office’s total law enforcement caseload.
- Negotiations over a new contract began in January 2026, with the Sheriff’s Office proposing increases to $3.4 million or, alternatively, $2.8 million with a requirement that Willows hire its own police chief; Willows countered with a proposal to raise the contract to $2.4 million with future cost-of-living adjustments.
- A case management conference hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for July 8, 2026; Willows officials have suggested Sheriff Justin Gibbs’s March 23 notice of contract termination may have been issued in response to a Public Records Act request the city filed regarding the negotiations.
WILLOWS, Calif. — The City of Willows filed a civil lawsuit against Glenn County this week seeking a court order to compel the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office to continue providing law enforcement services beyond the scheduled June 30 expiration of its current contract, after the Sheriff’s Office announced it would discontinue service to the city at that time.
The Sheriff’s Office stated Tuesday that its existing $2.3 million annual contract with Willows does not cover the actual cost of providing services, which it placed at $3.4 million per year — a shortfall of nearly $1 million that the county said it can no longer absorb. “This is unsustainable,” sheriff’s officials said in a news release. “The county cannot continue to fund city services as the county budget deficit grows.” Willows officials responded in a statement saying the city remains willing to pay for law enforcement services “at a level that is lawful, reasonable, financially sustainable, and the product of good-faith negotiations,” and said it values its longstanding partnership with the Sheriff’s Office.
Willows, located approximately 85 miles north of Sacramento and the county seat of Glenn County, had a population of approximately 6,300 as of the 2020 census — just over one-fifth of the county’s total population of nearly 29,000. The city dissolved its own police department in 2017 and has since relied on the Sheriff’s Office for both law enforcement and animal control services. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Willows’ jurisdiction accounts for 56% of the agency’s total law enforcement caseload.
Negotiations over a renewed contract began with two proposals presented by the Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 22: one that would raise the annual contract to $3.4 million, and a second that would set the contract at $2.8 million on the condition that Willows hire its own police chief. On Feb. 9, Willows submitted a counterproposal that would raise the contract to $2.4 million for the upcoming fiscal year, with future increases tied to the consumer price index plus an additional 1%. Willows officials noted that the contract had cost $1.5 million during a 2022 negotiation, and said the Sheriff’s Office’s January proposal represented an increase of approximately 120% over four years. The Sheriff’s Office rejected the counterproposal in a Feb. 18 email and maintained its original January terms, according to Willows.
Willows officials said they subsequently made two requests for an informal meeting involving the Sheriff’s Office, the Glenn County Board of Supervisors, and the county administrator. Board Chair Grant Carmon agreed to meet, but county and sheriff’s officials did not, according to the city. On March 18, Willows initiated a mediation request regarding the contract and separately filed a California Public Records Act request seeking information related to the provision of law enforcement services; the city said it has not received complete responses to that request as of Thursday.
On March 23, Sheriff Justin Gibbs notified Willows that the law enforcement services agreement, which includes animal control, would not be renewed after the existing contract expires. Willows officials said they believe the timing of that notice may have been connected to the city’s pending records request, stating that prior to receiving the letter, they understood negotiations to be ongoing with the possibility of a mutually acceptable agreement. The city filed its lawsuit Tuesday, and a case management conference hearing has been scheduled for July 8. According to Willows officials, the filing seeks temporary relief to maintain existing law enforcement services while negotiations and the legal issues raised in the petition continue.