La Mesa, CA Public Conduct: Loud Party Ordinance (2026)

Chapter 10.140, cited as the La Mesa Second Response Ordinance, targets parties, gatherings, or events on private property that keep drawing police officers back to the same address. Section 10.140.030 defines a 'party, gathering or event' as five or more people assembled for a social occasion, and defines 'police services' to include officers' salaries at their actual rate, overhead, the cost of treating any injured officer, and repair of damaged city equipment. If the responsible person is a minor, the minor's parents or guardians are jointly and severally liable.

Section 10.140.040 lets an officer at the scene who finds a threat to public peace, health, safety, or welfare hold the responsible individual or group liable for the cost of a 'special security assignment,' the term for police services during a second or further response, once a first written warning has already issued. Section 10.140.070 adds civil fines, in amounts the City Council sets by resolution, for any special security assignment within twelve months of that first warning. Section 10.140.080 lays out the appeal path: the Finance Director, with the Chief of Police, issues written notice of the fine, which becomes effective thirty days later unless appealed in writing; an appeal triggers a City Clerk-noticed hearing before the City Manager, held fifteen to sixty days out, whose decision is final. Section 10.140.090 confirms the chapter does not block separate criminal prosecution under the Penal Code for the same conduct.