Kings County DA sues City of Avenal over closed council sessions, transparency issues
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- Kings County DA sued Avenal in Dec. 2025 alleging Brown Act violations.
- City officials say they complied, re-ratified fire department actions Jan. 8.
- Lawsuit cites undisclosed closed-session talks on consultants and fire plans.
Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker sued the City of Avenal for alleged violations of California’s Brown Act. City officials claim the city has “committed no wrongdoing.”
The district attorney’s office filed the lawsuit against Avenal and its city council on Dec. 19 at Kings County Superior Court, alleging the violations after months of investigation that began in May last year due to public complaints on the lack of transparency about how the city went about creating their own fire department.
“What we want to do is ensure that whatever happens in the City of Avenal is done transparently and fairly,” Hacker said.
Hacker said the city council failed to discuss decisions publicly, such as hiring consultants and starting a fire department, which should have been reported in their agendas. The city council also failed to report back to the public on any action taken on close sessions, she said.
Avenal’s city manager Antony López said the city’s position on the lawsuit is that they are “willing to cooperate and work through whatever issues or complaints that the DA’s office may have, but at this time we have followed all necessary requirements under the Brown Act.”
Avenal, located 35 miles southwest of Hanford, is the fourth-largest city in Kings County and has a population of 13,696 people, according to the 2020 U.S. Census with 84.3 percent being Latino.
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A cease-and-desist letter was issued in early November, Hacker said. The lawsuit aims to ensure transparency and open government, she said.
“Our system of government is based on electing people, trusting them, knowing that they’re going to be open about their positions, talk about government issues openly and transparently, and we can’t have a system like that if the governing board is using a closed session inappropriately, or they’re not being transparent about their discussions,” Hacker said. “It’s fundamental to our rights as citizens to know what our governing bodies are doing.”
Avenal City Council has been on the hot seat over transparency issues for months. Most recently, the city council meeting on Jan. 8 failed to start livestreaming as originally planned with the Zoom link issued for public participation.
While the meeting was not shared online with the public, council members conducted the meeting, which included a discussion on the recent lawsuit filed by Hacker.
López said the city has followed all necessary requirements under the Brown Act and re-ratified all items concerning the formation of the city’s fire department at the Jan. 8 meeting.
“If there has been any doubt or suspicion that something hasn’t been done with transparency, all items have been re-ratified at the Jan. 8 meeting. All the items that were in question, which mostly are regarding the formation of the city’s own fire department,” López said.
“It’s a civil lawsuit, so there is no criminal action behind, and no one is going to jail,” López said.
The Brown Act, passed in 1953, prevents secret meetings in local government and gives the public the opportunity to observe and participate in decision-making that does not involve personnel issues or pending litigation.
According to the lawsuit for approximately five months, Avenal’s closed-sessions agendas failed to disclose the city was discussing the creation of a municipal fire department nor the retention of consultants, two topics that are non-exempt for closed sessions.
Earlier this month, Kings County Board of supervisor Richard Valle raised concerns on his social media about the controversy surrounding the fire services provided by the county to the city of Avenal.
Valle shared a letter dated April 28, 2021, signed by Avenal City manager and mayor Álvaro Preciado to then state assembly member Rudy Salas asking for $600,000 in funding to ensure continued fire services to Avenal for the next two fiscal years.
The letter acknowledged that the county has subsidized 20-30 percent of the cost of maintaining the Avenal fire station and staffing within the city limits for 20 years.
Valle also criticized the language used in a resolution by City Manager Antony López, that accuses Kings County of not only raising fire service rates but coercing the city into a contract.
Last month, Valle also criticized Avenal City Council members and city staff, including the city manager and city clerk, when the majority of them failed to show up for a scheduled publicly noticed meeting in early December.
The four council members who were absent at that meeting were also scheduled to be served notice by the county elections office of a recall petition submitted by 525 registered voters in Avenal.
