You can be fined for violating coronavirus orders in these Stanislaus County cities
Five Stanislaus County cities can fine residents for violating coronavirus stay-at-home orders, but none have issued citations so far, according to the law firm that advises them.
Turlock, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson and Riverbank have not needed to enforce the orders with a $250 fine as of Monday, said Douglas White, managing partner of Churchwell White law firm.
The city councils have adopted the enforcement rules in the past couple weeks, taking a different approach from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department and Modesto Police Department. Both sent cease and desist letters to businesses that did not comply with orders made by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the county health officer to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Under the ordinances in Turlock and the other cities, people or businesses who refuse to follow coronavirus orders when asked can be fined $250 for the first violation, $500 for the second and $1,000 for the third.
The fines give cities another enforcement option, White said, without criminalizing residents through a misdemeanor or potentially starting a costly court battle if businesses challenge cease and desist orders. Even so, Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar said his department has not changed its outreach process since the city council passed the order on April 14.
“We are using our community based policing approach for compliance and education,” Amirfar said in a text to the Bee. “We have had no reason to issue administrative citations.”
Any fines paid will go toward the respective city’s general fund, said White, who is also the Turlock city attorney. Cities will only break even at the second fine, he added, because of the cost of educating people who don’t comply with the orders.
White’s law firm also presented the citations to the city of Ceres, White said, but the council did not move forward with it. Meanwhile, the Hughson and Waterford city councils have not listed potential enforcement measures on their meeting agendas since the state coronavirus orders began.
On the county level, all businesses that received cease and desist letters within the Sheriff Department’s jurisdiction complied, said Office of Emergency Services spokesman Raj Singh. The office’s legal branch provided the cease and desist letter to all the city attorneys in the county, including Modesto’s.
Some Modesto businesses have pushed back against those notices with letters from their attorneys, said Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll. Officers are working with the community, he said, because people will remember how officers treated them after the coronavirus orders end.
“MPD is contacting businesses and giving cease and desist orders but we are not going to get into a fight with owners or customers over it,” Carroll said in a text to the Bee. “If we have a court order we will deal with it before customers are present.”
The stay-at-home orders agencies are enforcing currently have no end date as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
