AB 481 Information

Military Equipment Funding, Acquisition and Use 

California Assembly Bill 481 requires law enforcement agencies to obtain approval of the applicable governing body (Board of Supervisors), by adoption of a military equipment use policy prior to taking certain actions relating to the funding, acquisition, or use of military equipment as defined by the legislature.

To help guide this process, and create transparency for our community, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has established this webpage to provide all required materials including draft policy, current applicable equipment, and full text of the bill. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is diligently working to comply with the requirements of AB 481 and will be uploading the required materials as approved. Click on the below tabs to learn more. 

  1. Requirements

Requirements

Assembly Bill (AB) 481 requires each law enforcement agency's governing body to adopt a written military use policy by ordinance in addition to other requirements by the bill. The following are required:

  • Publish the draft military equipment use policy to the Sheriff's Office's website 30 days ahead of a public hearing to approve the policy.
  • Obtain approval by the applicable governing body (Board of Supervisors), by adoption of a military equipment use policy prior to taking certain actions relating to the funding, acquisition, or use of military equipment, as defined. (See definitions in next tab)
  • Publish an annual report by the law enforcement agency to include each type of military equipment approved by the governing body.
  • Annual review of the military equipment use ordinance by the governing body, and option to either disapprove a renewal of a type of military equipment or amend the military equipment use policy if it determines that the military equipment does not comply with standards for approval.
  • Hold at least one well-publicized and conveniently located community engagement meeting within 30 days of submitting and publicly releasing the annual military equipment report.
  1. Definition of Military Equipment
  1. Documents
  1. Annual Report