Homes packed with sex offenders are ‘inappropriate.’ Fresno Co. wants to cap number
A couple of Fresno County Supervisors said they have drafted an ordinance to prevent halfway houses offered to sex offenders from overflowing with tenants in rural and residential neighborhoods.
The transitional housing in California is legal, but Supervisors Garry Bredefeld and Brian Pacheco said the ordinance they have co-sponsored would limit any halfway houses that have a registered sex offender to limit their beds to no more than six.
The supervisors pointed to a half dozen in Fig Garden within Fresno’s city limits, near Kerman and other unincorporated areas where they said the homes have become a nuisance and have been found with as many as a dozen tenants.
“They ought to be on an island somewhere, or, frankly, they belong in jail and they shouldn’t be released and certainly shouldn’t be released into neighborhoods with families,” Bredefeld said. “In my district, they’re less than a mile away from a school, right around the corner from a church. It’s just inappropriate, but that’s state law.”
The ordinance was set to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The proposed ordinance would give officials “the teeth” to enforce regulations on the buildings they otherwise don’t have, according to County Counsel Doug Sloan.
Bredefeld said the ordinance would allow the greatest restriction — six beds per parcel — possible under state law.
The ordinance would make violations punishable with a misdemeanor and fines start at $1,000, but increase up to $50,000, according to the proposal. It also allows for an offender’s business license to be revoked.
Sheriff John Zanoni said the homes have been a nuisance because deputies respond to them often after 911 calls from neighbors.
He pointed to a shooting, accusations of sexual assault and a tenant who possessed child sexual assault material, or what used to be called child pornography, as recent reasons for calls that tied up deputies in those areas.
“Those are three calls for service that we didn’t have at other residences within this area,” he said. “So you have to look at it from the perspective of our resources are limited.”
Residents in Fig Garden have complained about living in fear knowing the halfway homes are in the area. One resident, Frances Morrison, said the agencies that run the halfway homes are contributing to the problem.
“They are bleeding us,” she said. “They don’t pay any more taxes than the rest of us, however they’re making a living on these homes.”
The California Supreme Court in 2015 struck down many restrictions on where a registered sex offender could live. A voter initiative in 2006 had prevented those sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks and other sensitive areas.
Those restrictions meant sex offenders could not find housing in many larger cities, leaving them homeless and also difficult for authorities to monitor.
Assuming the supervisors adopt the proposed ordinance, the law would go into effect 30 days later.
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM.
