Fresno Sheriff Posts Military Weapons List Under State Law — What’s On It?
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office put a statement on its website about military equipment the department has, following a 2021 state law signed by Governor Newsom.
Assembly Bill 481 makes law enforcement agencies get approval from their governing body before buying or using military gear. They have to report what they bought, what it cost, how they used it, and any complaints every year.
The Sheriff’s Office posted a “comprehensive list” of items the state classifies as military equipment. The site says the gear is used “to assist law enforcement personnel with the de-escalation of potentially violent incidents and in their response to emergency situations.”
What’s actually on that list — the details aren’t visible on the public-facing page.
The Breakdown
- AB 481, signed September 30, 2021, requires state and local agencies to get approval from their governing body before funding, acquiring, or using military equipment.
- Agencies must report annually on equipment use, costs, complaints, violations, and audits. The governing body has to re-approve the policy every year.
- The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office says it posted a list of items the state classifies as military equipment, but the actual inventory isn’t shown on the public-facing page.
- The law covers 15 categories of military-style equipment, from rifles and launchers to armored vehicles and drones.
What This Means for You
The law gives the public a right to participate in any government agency’s decision to fund, acquire, or use military equipment. That means knowing what that equipment is, what it costs, and how it’s used.
The governing body that oversees the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for approving or rejecting the Sheriff’s military equipment policy under this law. That approval is supposed to happen annually, with a public report each time.
If you can’t see the actual list of equipment, you can’t see what’s being approved or how much of your money is going toward it. That’s the gap this law was written to close.
What You Can Do
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office website has a page on AB 481 compliance at fresnosheriff.org. If the equipment list isn’t posted there, you can ask the Sheriff’s Office or the governing body for it — the law requires it to be public.
What to Watch
A “comprehensive list” that isn’t shown isn’t comprehensive to the public. The material says the Sheriff’s Office posted the list, but the actual inventory — the rifles, the launchers, the vehicles, the round counts, the dollar figures — isn’t on the page the public sees. That’s the list the law exists to make public.
What would settle this: the full inventory, with item descriptions, quantities, acquisition costs, and annual use totals, posted where a voter can read it without filing a records request. Other California agencies subject to AB 481 post those details in their annual reports — line-item lists, not summary statements.
The law also requires annual re-approval by the governing body. When did the governing body last approve the Sheriff’s military equipment policy, and was that approval based on a report the public could read beforehand? If the approvals are happening without detailed public reports, the law’s transparency requirement isn’t being met.
Who benefits: The Sheriff’s Office controls the equipment and the timing of what the public sees. The governing body can approve or reject the policy, but only if they and the public have the actual data to judge it by. If the reports are thin or late, the accountability the legislature built into this law doesn’t function.
One more thing: other agencies’ AB 481 reports show the cost of replacing equipment and the shelf life of ammunition. The Santa Monica College Police Department reported $30,000 in rifle and launcher costs, with ammunition expiring every two to three years. What’s the replacement cost for Fresno’s military equipment, and how much of the annual budget goes toward keeping it operational? That figure belongs in the public report, and if it’s missing, ask why.
