Social Host

As of December 31, 2006, there were at least twenty-nine social host liability ordinances in California. Some California city or county ordinances treat social hosting as a misdemeanor crime (e.g., City of Santa Rosa), infraction, or both. Other California city or county ordinances treat social hosting as a civil nuisance, permitting the city or county to recoup law enforcement, firefighting, or other emergency response costs incurred by the municipality for responding multiple times to the scene of an underage drinking event (e.g., County of Ventura). Still other California city or county ordinances treat social hosting as both a crime and a civil nuisance (e.g., City of San Diego and City of Santa Cruz). See the Model Ordinances section of socialhost.org for full text of City of San Diego ordinance and County of Ventura Model Ordinance.

To show that a violation of a criminal ordinance has occurred usually requires proof that the offender knew or should have known that an underage drinking gathering was occurring (e.g., City of San Diego). To show that a violation of a civil nuisance ordinance has occurred usually does not require proof of knowledge (County of Ventura).

Cities	Crime		Response Costs Recovery	Expressly Requires Proof of Knowledge for Violation
Cities	Infraction	Misdemeanor	Response Costs Recovery	Expressly Requires Proof of Knowledge for Violation
Berkeley			x
Camarillo*			x
Chico			x
El Cajon	x	x	x	x
Encinitas		x
Fillmore			x
La Mesa			x
Los Altos		x
Los Gatos		x
Moorpark*			x
Mammoth Lakes			x	x
Novato		x
Oceanside		x
Ojai		x	x
Oxnard			x
Petaluma		x	x
Poway		x
San Diego		x	x	x
Santa Cruz	x	x	x
Santa Paula City	x	x	x	x
Santa Rosa		x	x
Santee		x
Simi Valley*			x
Thousand Oaks			x
Vallejo**		x	x
Counties
Marin			x	x
Mono		x	x	x
Ventura			x
San Diego		x		x

*Ordinances not yet available

**This is a general cost recovery law, which, in the past, has been applied to underage parties.

This Chart is effective up through December 31, 2006