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Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment for County Client in Civil Rights Case

Serviam is pleased to announce a landmark victory for a County Client in federal civil rights litigation. The United States District Court issued a comprehensive 94-page Opinion granting summary judgment in favor of the County on every claim. The Court simultaneously denied Plaintiff's competing motion for summary judgment in its entirety. The litigation arose from an extended series of County enforcement actions—including a criminal investigation, search warrants, code enforcement proceedings, and a receivership—that Plaintiff contended were part of a coordinated government conspiracy to deprive him of his property. Plaintiff further alleged that County personnel engaged in misconduct, fabrication of evidence, and violations of his constitutional rights. After years of parallel proceedings in both State and federal court, the Court conducted a detailed review of the full factual and procedural history before issuing its ruling. The Court's opinion was exceptional in both its depth and the breadth of independent grounds it identified to defeat Plaintiff's claims. Key findings from the ruling include: Probable Cause. The Court found that the County...

Mandatory Homeless Shelter Inspections & Reporting in California

California has long recognized that homeless shelters—emergency shelters and navigation centers—must meet minimum health and safety standards to protect some of the state's most vulnerable residents. For years, however, the inspection and reporting obligations that existed on paper went largely unenforced: as of mid-2025, all but a handful of California's more than 500 cities and counties had never filed a single required report with the state. Assembly Bill 130 (Chapter 22, Statutes of 2025), signed into law on June 30, 2025, changes that calculus—sharply—for every city, county, shelter operator, and public agency in California. The Legal Framework: Two Layers of Obligation Health & Safety Code § 17974.1: Complaint-Triggered Inspections (Pre-existing Law). Before AB 130, Health and Safety Code section 17974.1 already required any city or county that received a complaint from a shelter occupant—or an agent of an occupant—alleging substandard conditions under HSC § 17920.3 to inspect the shelter, document any violations, advise the owner or operator, and schedule a reinspection. These are not discretionary steps. Imminent health and safety threats...