Lake County Municipal Code Art. XI Voluntary Certification of Sober Living Facilities

9-110.1 The purpose of this article is to establish a program for voluntary certification of residential facilities providing drug-free and alcohol-free living environments, but not treatment, for persons who are recovering from alcohol or drug abuse or addiction, in order to promote public safety and to provide access to quality recovery environments.

(Ord. No. 2747, § 1, 9-20-2005)

As used in this article:

9-111.1 Certification standards — guidelines adopted by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, which set out the requirements for certification by the Public Health Department's Division of Alcohol and Other Drug Services (AODS) of sober living facilities. The Certification Standards also shall provide for procedures for applications for certification, inspections of facilities, issuance of certifications, and renewals and revocations of certifications.

9-111.2 Director and Head of Administrative Staff — the manager of a sober living facility who is responsible for supervision of all residents and of all staff employed by, or volunteering for, the facility, and for approving all progress reports about residents' recovery that are provided to courts, county or city agencies, or other providers of recovery services. He/she is responsible for overall management of the sober living facility.

9-111.3 House manager — a person who resides at a sober living facility, or any of multiple persons who collectively are present at the facility and who is/are in charge of the day-to-day operation of the facility. The house manager is responsible to ensure the safety of the building(s) and grounds; to collect fees from residents; to maintain compliance by residents and staff with facility rules and the certification guidelines; and to provide support and referral information, but not counseling or treatment, to residents of the facility.

9-111.4 Facility Staff — any individual, paid or volunteer, who assists the house manager. Staff may oversee the household chore list and schedule; help to facilitate facility meetings; and report concerns regarding the behavior of residents and the maintenance of the facility to the house manager or director.

9-111.5 Sober Living Facility — a facility offering an alcohol and drug free residence for unrelated adults who are recovering from alcohol or drug addiction. No drug or alcohol treatment services are provided on site. The State of California, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs does not license such a facility to offer residential treatment for drug or alcohol abuse or addiction.

(Ord. No. 2747, § 1, 9-20-2005)

9-112.1 The AODS Administrator is authorized to certify sober living facilities when such facilities have complied with the certification standards.

9-112.2 Obtaining Certification shall be Voluntary. No sober living facility shall be required to apply for or obtain certification under the certification standards. No sober living facility shall be required to cease operation on account of its not being certified under the certification standards.

9-112.3 The AODS Administrator is authorized to rely on personnel appointed by county and city agencies when determining whether those portions of the certification standards relating to buildings and grounds have been met.

9-112.4 Effective on the date indicated in the certification ordinance, and except as otherwise provided or as required by law or contractual obligations, County of Lake personnel, when referring a person to a sober living facility, shall refer a person who qualifies for admittance to a certified sober living facility only to an AODS certified facility, if the referring County personnel determine that space is available in a certified facility that is suitable for the person being referred.

(Ord. No. 2747, § 1, 9-20-2005)

9-113.1 In order to maintain environments in certified sober living facilities that maximize the opportunities for residents' recovery from drug or alcohol abuse or addiction, it is necessary that such facilities be operated by persons who have not engaged in criminal behavior in the recent past and who have not engaged at any time in certain types of criminal behavior that could endanger residents.

9-113.2 The certification standards may contain additional requirements, unrelated to criminal activity, for owners, operators, managers, staff and volunteers of sober living facilities.

9-113.3 No sober living facility shall be certified if any of its staff have been convicted of any of the following offenses:

(a) Sex offenses for which the person is required to register as a sex offender under Penal Code Section 290;

(b) Arson offenses — Violation of Penal Code Section 451, 451.1, 451.5, 452, 452.1, 453, 454, or 455;

(c) Violent felonies as defined in Penal Code Section 667.5, which involve doing bodily harm to another person, for which the staff member was convicted within five (5) years prior to program certification.

9-113.4 No alcohol or drug recovery facility shall be certified if any of its staff participates in the criminal activities of a prison gang and/or criminal street gang, as defined in Penal Code Section 18622(f).

9-113.5 The AODS Administrator is authorized to approve individual exceptions to the requirement of subsections 9-113.3(a) through (c) of this section for staff of sober living facilities upon finding appropriate justification for such an exception.

9-113.6 No alcohol or drug recovery facility shall be certified if its director and head of administrative staff:

(a) Does not meet the requirements of subsections 9-113.3 and 9-113.4 of this section; or

(b) Is currently under parole or formal probation supervision.

9-113.7 No sober living facility shall be certified if its house manager:

(a) Does not meet the requirements of subsections 9-113.3 and 9-113.4 of this section; or

(b) Is under parole or formal probation supervision on the date of the facility's application for certification or the house manager's employment by the facility, whichever is later.

9-113.8 No sober living facility shall be certified if any of its staff members:

(a) Do not meet the requirements of subsections 9-113.3 and 9-113.4 of this section; or

(b) Is under parole or formal probation supervision for a violent felony, as defined in Penal Code Section 667.5, on the date of the facility's application for certification or employment by the facility, whichever is later.

9-113.9 A sober living facility shall not be disqualified from certification on account of a staff member, other man the director or house manager, being under probation or parole supervision solely for a non-violent offense(s), if the staff member otherwise meets the requirements of subsection 9-113.8 of this section.

9-113-10 In the following circumstances, a certification previously granted to a sober living facility shall be revoked and a pending application for certification shall be denied:

(a) (1)

Any of the staff of the facility is convicted, while the application is pending or during the period of certification, of any offense that would have disqualified the facility from certification if the conviction had occurred earlier; or

(2) It is discovered that any of the staff of the facility is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Penal Code Section 290 or currently participates in the criminal activity of a prison gang and/or a criminal street gang, as defined in Penal Code Section 186.22(f); and

(b) The staff member's conviction, sex offender registration requirement or participation in the criminal activities of a prison gang and/or criminal street gang would have disqualified the facility from certification if it had occurred or had been discovered earlier.

(Ord. No. 2747, § 1, 9-20-2005)

9-114.1 If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this article is for any reason held to be unconstitutional and invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this article. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed the ordinance codified in this article and every section, subsection, sentence, clauses, or phrases thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one (1) or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared unconstitutional or invalid.

(Ord. No. 2747, § 1, 9-20-2005)