LIVE OAK, California — Starting December 1, deputies in Live Oak will no longer respond in person to a long list of everyday calls — including DUI complaints, theft, shoplifting, welfare checks, trespassing, vandalism and non-injury traffic accidents — under a reduced one-year sheriff's contract driven by the city's budget crisis. Sutter County Sheriff Brandon Barnes set out the new limits in a news release on Tuesday, October 27, and the Sheriff's Office has posted the full list of calls it will and will not answer on its website, the Sacramento Bee reported. Live Oak is a farming city of about 9,400 people on Highway 99, about 10 miles north of Yuba City — in the heart of one of California's oldest Punjabi settlement areas.
Source: The Sacramento Bee (via Police1)
“As Sheriff, I cannot subsidize services to the incorporated City of Live Oak, so staffing will have to be reduced, resulting in a need to prioritize the types of calls we can safely respond to,” Barnes said in the news release. The Bee reported that Sutter County officials have been working with Live Oak officials to implement the new one-year contract, which would take effect December 1 at a reduced level of police services because of the city's fiscal restructuring. ABC10 reported that round-the-clock patrol in the city drops from two deputies to one under the plan.
The calls deputies will no longer answer in person
The Gridley Herald, in its October 27 report 'Live Oak Prepares for Changes in Police Coverage,' listed the calls that will no longer receive a deputy response under their listed priority classifications: non-injury traffic accidents, suspicious persons or vehicles, harassment, trespassing, vandalism, reckless driving, DUI complaints, welfare checks, theft, shoplifting, noise complaints, parking violations and abandoned vehicles. Residents can review the full list of calls receiving a response and those excluded under the new contract at suttersheriff.gov, under 'Services' and 'Calls for Service — Live Oak,' the Herald said. Emergencies and serious crimes remain the priority calls deputies will still answer — the change is about which lower-priority calls get a deputy at the door at all.
Source: The Gridley Herald
How a farming city got here
The road to the reduced contract runs through the city's finances. With a budget deficit of nearly $2 million last October, the Live Oak City Council voted in 2025 to end the city's contract with the Sheriff's Office to provide police services to residents, the Bee reported; that contract is set to expire November 30. In October 2025 the council had taken action to discontinue its public safety service contracts with both the Sutter County Fire Department and the Sheriff's Office, a decision officials said at the time was financial and not based on the quality of service, according to the county's joint news release reported by the Territorial Dispatch and the Gridley Herald. County Administrator Steve Smith said then that the services were provided considerably cheaper than city-run police and fire departments in regional cities, and that the county would work toward a long-term solution.
Sheriff Barnes — who also lives in Live Oak — addressed the council on October 21 and described the new contract as a 'minimum level of service,' the Herald reported. He acknowledged the staffing reductions are 'not optimal,' but expressed hope the arrangement would be temporary. “I'm not going to let the City of Live Oak suffer. … We hope to get through this rough patch and continue on as good partners,” Barnes told the council. The Sheriff's Office has provided law enforcement for Live Oak under contract for decades, working out of the Live Oak substation next to the fire station at Fir and O streets, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Mayor Jeramy Chapdelaine described the situation as “a lose-lose,” the Gridley Herald reported, and said continuing to fund services the city cannot afford would be irresponsible. “We're in a terrible spot,” Chapdelaine said, adding that the city had already reduced other spending to a minimum. Vice Mayor Aaron Pamma expressed concerns about how the reduced staffing would affect residents, while Councilmember Ashley Hernandez said the city was attempting “to do the best we can with what we have.” An official named Moody said the city has reduced expenditures by $3.5 million while attempting to maintain essential services: “We remain committed to responsible financial management, exploring new revenue opportunities, and ensuring our residents continue to receive the public safety services they deserve.”
Why it matters on the Highway 99 corridor
Live Oak sits on Highway 99, the north–south corridor that carries Central Valley farm traffic, commuters between Yuba City, Chico and Sacramento, and a heavy flow of trucks — including many Punjabi truck drivers and orchard and farm businesses in Sutter and Yuba counties. A reduction in deputy response for DUI complaints, reckless driving and theft lands directly on the concerns of that corridor: residents reporting a suspected drunk driver, a farm or shop reporting a theft, or a family requesting a welfare check may, from December 1, be handled under the new priority list rather than by a deputy at the scene. The Sheriff's Office says the full list is public, so residents can see in advance which calls will and will not get a response.
What happens next
The reduced agreement runs through November 30, 2027, giving the city an opportunity to reconsider staffing levels if additional funding becomes available, the Herald reported. One potential funding source is Sutter County's Measure G, a proposed 1% sales tax for public safety services on the November 3 ballot; Moody said approval of the measure could eventually provide additional revenue to help support public safety costs. Until then, the new call list takes effect December 1, when the current contract expires on November 30 — and Live Oak becomes a test case, watched by other small California cities, of what policing looks like when a city can no longer afford the contract it has relied on for decades.