How to show up in Butte County
Surveillance is approved by people who hold public meetings any resident can attend. This page lists the bodies that do that in Butte County, what we have confirmed about attending each one, and where each publishes its agendas.
We do not publish meeting dates. A schedule we cannot check often enough would eventually send someone to the wrong place on the wrong night. Each body below links to wherever it publishes its own agendas and schedule, and that is the copy to trust.
Bodies in this county
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Butte County Board of Supervisors
Watch this oneThe Sheriff's military equipment policy commits the office to an annual report to this Board and to a community engagement meeting within 30 days of it. That report is the county's one scheduled public accounting of the equipment the Sheriff holds.
- When
- Typically the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 9:00 AM. The county says the pattern shifts around holidays and conflicts, so the portal carries the actual schedule.
- Where
- Board Chambers, County Administration Building, 25 County Center Drive, Suite 205, Oroville, CA 95965
- Remote
- The county publishes a Zoom webinar link and a dial-in number for every regular meeting, and takes public comment from people joining that way.
- Public comment
- A speaker gets three minutes. Comment on matters not on the agenda is held to about 15 minutes in total, roughly five speakers, and anyone left over is heard at the end of the meeting.
- Written comment
- By email to the Clerk of the Board, or by mail to the Board's address, received by 5:00 PM on the business day before the meeting.
- Who to ask
- Clerk of the Board, 530-552-3300 (checked )
The CivicClerk portal carries meetings from 13 August 2024 forward. Agendas, minutes and Board correspondence from before that date are in the county's separate eDocs archive at edocs.buttecounty.ca.gov. The county's meeting page publishes the Clerk's email address through a script that hides it from our fetcher, so only the phone number is listed here.
Confirmed ·
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Chico City Council
Watch this oneChico Police runs the plate reader program at the centre of the county's surveillance argument, including the data sharing with federal agencies that the city opened an internal investigation into in 2026. This council is where that program is funded and argued.
- When
- The first and third Tuesday of the month. Closed session at 5:00 PM, the council meeting at 6:00 PM.
- Where
- City Council Chambers, Chico Municipal Center, 421 Main Street, Chico, CA 95928. The City Clerk's Office, where the agenda packet can be read on paper, is at 411 Main Street.
- Remote
- Meetings are streamed live through the city's Granicus page and carried live on cable channel 11. Whether a person watching can comment from there is not stated on the agenda.
- Public comment
- Comment on matters not on the agenda is taken after the consent agenda. A speaker gets three minutes, or less if the Mayor shortens it based on how many people want to speak. The Council cannot act on what is raised there. Comment on the closed session agenda is taken before the Council goes into closed session, on the same three-minute limit.
- Written comment
- — not confirmed
- Who to ask
- City Clerk's Office, 530-896-7250 (checked )
The city's agendas do not print an email address or an online form for written comment, so we cannot confirm one here. Earlier Chico agendas carried a publiccomments@chicoca.gov address and an Engaged Chico comment platform with a cutoff 30 minutes before the meeting; neither appears on the agendas the city posts now. Agenda packets are posted at 421 Main Street before 5:00 PM.
Confirmed ·
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Chico Unified School District Board of Education
This board approved a camera system covering 691 locations on its consent calendar in December 2025, then voted in February 2026 against turning on the facial recognition feature that came with it and created a committee to look at the question.
- When
- Typically the third Wednesday of the month. Closed session at 5:00 PM, open session at 6:00 PM. The district approves its schedule each December and says dates, times and locations can change.
- Where
- Butte County Office of Education, Carmichael Building, Suite 300, 2491 Carmichael Drive, Chico, CA 95928
- Remote
- Regular board meetings are streamed on the district's YouTube channel.
- Public comment
- Priority goes to people who submit a speaker card by noon on the day of the meeting. If time is left, the board may hear from others in the room. Comment on matters not on the agenda is taken as "Items From the Floor", which appears on regular meeting agendas only, not on special meetings or workshops.
- Written comment
- By email to PublicComment@chicousd.org by noon on the Monday two days before a Wednesday meeting. Letters can be addressed to the CUSD Board of Education, 1163 E. 7th Street, Chico, CA 95928.
- Who to ask
- Superintendent's Office, 530-891-3000 ext. 88000 (checked )
The district rebuilt its website and moved its agendas to Simbli. Older links, including the agendaonline.net portal that search engines still return and some links in the district's own page footer, now return a 404. Regular meeting agendas are posted at least 72 hours ahead and special meeting agendas at least 24 hours ahead. The district does not publish a per-speaker time limit; the agenda for each meeting carries it.
Confirmed ·
What this list does not cover yet
These are the bodies we have confirmed, not every body in the county. Butte County has other commissions and committees, and other school and special districts, that we have not documented yet. Several of the county's own committees publish on the same county portal linked above.
Before you go, and after
Civic action
Read what is already on the record for Butte County first. A resident who has read the contract changes the room.
What is documented in Butte County →Personal protection
Knowing which systems operate near you also tells you where your own choices still matter.
EFF Surveillance Self-Defense ↗