To: Board of Supervisors
From: Monica Nino, County Administrator
Report Title: 2026 TRUTH Act Community Forum
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
HOLD a community forum regarding the provision of access of certain individuals to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, pursuant to Government Code section 7283.1(d):
a. Receive opening staff report from the County Administrator's Office (Enid Mendoza, Senior Deputy County Administrator);
b. Receive a presentation from Immigrant Legal Resource Center (Miosotti “Mio” Tenecora, Staff Attorney);
c. Receive report from the Sheriff-Coroner (Hon. David O. Livingston, Sheriff-Coroner); and
d. Receive Public Comment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND:
Summary:
The purpose of this item is to hold a community forum and receive the Sheriff’s report regarding individuals housed in a County detention facility who they provided United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “access” to in calendar year 2025, in compliance with the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds Act, Government Code section 7283.1(d), commonly referred to as the “TRUTH Act”.
While the statute requires the Board to convene the forum, no action is required by the Board. Additionally, the necessity of the County holding today’s forum pursuant to the TRUTH Act is not a punitive measure, rather, it is a transparency initiative in statute designed to ensure notification to the public of the extent and nature of communications between the federal government and local law enforcement agencies in very specific circumstances.
The data reported by the Sheriff’s Office reflects “ICE access” via ICE I-247A Requests for Notification. In 2025, the Sheriff’s Office Custody Services Bureau received a total of 724 I-247A requests, of which a total of 124 were responded to. Of the 124 responses, 32 were notifications on the same person, resulting in a net total of 92 notifications of individuals.
Community Forum History and Requirements
As of January 1, 2018, Government Code section 7283.1(d) requires the Board of Supervisors to hold in the following year, a community forum if a local law enforcement agency operated by the Board “has provided ICE access to an individual during the last year”. Statute requires that the forum be “open to the public, in an accessible location, and with at least 30 days’ notice”. Additionally, the public forum is to inform “the public about ICE’s access to individuals” and for the Board “to receive and consider public comment”.
Once it has been determined that a community forum is necessary, statute provides that local law enforcement agencies participating in the forum, “provide the governing body with data it maintains regarding the number and demographic characteristics of individuals to whom the agency has provided ICE access, the date ICE access was provided, and whether the ICE access was provided through a hold, transfer, or notification request or through other means. Data may be provided in the form of statistics or, if statistics are not maintained, individual records, provided that personally identifiable information shall be redacted.”
The TRUTH Act defines "ICE access" as all of the following:
1. Responding to an ICE hold, notification, or transfer request;
2. Providing ICE with advance notice of detention facility release information that is not otherwise available to the public;
3. Providing ICE with non-public information regarding detention facility release dates, home or work addresses;
4. Permitting ICE to interview an individual; or
5. Providing ICE with probation or parole check-in dates and times.
The text of the TRUTH Act, Government Code sections 7283 and 7283.1 are included as Attachment A for reference, and contain further definitions and non-forum related requirements.
The County has held annual TRUTH Act community forums since 2018. On July 9, 2018, the Sheriff's Office informed ICE and the United States Marshals Service (the "Service") of the determination to terminate agreements with the Service related to the housing of ICE Agency detainees. The County has not entered into subsequent contracts and does not house ICE Agency detainees within the adult or juvenile detention facility systems.
County Process and Determination to hold Community Forum
In anticipation of the need to hold a community forum, the Board of Supervisors at its October 21, 2026, meeting, adopted its Calendar Year 2026 meeting schedule, with the TRUTH Forum listed for the August 25, 2026 meeting.
In compliance with the 30-days’ notice requirement, on July 20, 2026, the Contra Costa Times, a newspaper of general circulation within the County, published formal notice of the forum. In addition to this formal notice, the date and time of the County’s community forum has been circulated in various County media releases since July 23, 2026. A copy of the Proof of Publication issued by the Contra Costa Times and the County’s media release are included as Attachment B to this report.
Since the TRUTH Act definition of "local law enforcement agency" is broad and the definition of "ICE access" is specific, the County Administrator's Office annually requires each department head within the County to certify the following, to determine whether a community forum is required to be held pursuant to the statute:
1. Whether the department is a "local law enforcement agency" as defined by the TRUTH Act; and
2. If the department is a "local law enforcement agency", did the department provide "ICE access" during the prior calendar year.
On June 25, 2026, the County Administrator sent correspondence to all department heads requesting that each certify responses to the above two questions. A copy of the County Administrator’s letter and Certification Form are included as Attachment C to this report.
The Sheriff's Office reported as having met the statutory definition for providing ICE access in calendar year 2025, which determined the Board of Supervisors’ need to convene a community forum pursuant to Government Code section 7283.1(d). No other County department reported as having provided ICE access in calendar year 2025. A summary of department head responses is included as Attachment D.
Public Accessibility
Since 2019, Spanish translation and interpretation of TRUTH Act community forum proceedings has been successfully integrated and continues to be available this year.
The following accessibility and language access tools are available to maximize community involvement and participation during the forum:
1. Written Public Comment:
Written public comments received in advance and by Monday, August 17 will be published with the agenda materials. This ensures that comments submitted in written format are published for review by all parties participating in today's forum. As of Monday, August 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., no written public comment or question was received related to this item.
2. Real-time Closed Captioning and Simultaneous Spanish Interpretation:
The County utilizes Wordly for simultaneous interpretation of Board of Supervisors meetings. The County's Wordly subscription provides simultaneous audio and written interpretation of English to many languages, as well as interpretation of Spanish to English as needed during the public comment period. Attendees can access interpretation by scanning a QR code from their mobile device while attending in person or directly through Zoom if participating remotely.
The public may also watch the forum on Contra Costa TV channels and turn on SAP (Secondary Audio Programming). Closed captioning is also available in English during the forum’s live broadcast and on video posted on the County website.
3. Immigration Advocacy:
The County has traditionally allowed for a coordinated presentation by the immigration advocacy community which, in past years, had been presented by senior attorneys from Criminal Justice Reform Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (ALC), the Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance (CCIRA), and Immigrant Legal Resources Center (ILRC). This year, County staff reached out to CCIRA and ILRC. Both responded with interest in co-presenting at the 2026 TRUTH Act Community Forum. The ILRC presentations are attached.
4. County Department Report:
As the sole responding law enforcement agency that has provided ICE access, the Office of the Sheriff’s report is attached.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The TRUTH Act community forum is required to be held by the governing board of a local agency pursuant to Government Code section 7283.1(d) if a local law enforcement agency within that jurisdiction has provided ICE access to an individual. The statute only requires that the community forum be convened and does not require that any action be taken by the local governing board. Should the Board choose not to hold the community forum it must be scheduled for a future date to comply with state law.