Fresno County deputies explain dangerous eviction work after Porterville shooting

Fresno County deputies have already served 180 evictions this year, and 43 of those required force to get inside a residence. After the killing of Tulare County Sheriff’s Detective Randy Hoppert during an eviction in Porterville, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is laying out just how quickly a civil process can turn dangerous.

Hoppert, 35, was a six-year veteran of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. He was serving a final eviction notice near Brian Avenue and North Salisbury Street in Porterville around 10:40 a.m. on April 9 when he was killed. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said the suspect had not paid rent for 35 days and expected law enforcement to arrive. Reporting also said the suspect was allegedly upset over being evicted from a home he had lived in for 20 years.

Fresno County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Tony Botti said eviction work often means deputies move quickly from one property to the next, sometimes covering three, four or five locations in a day and spending only 15 to 30 minutes at each site. That pace, combined with the possibility of a locked door, an angry tenant or an unknown weapon, is why the county sends deputies in teams.

Botti said deputies do not always know whether someone inside is armed, and the timing of the visit is often known in advance. That can make the encounter especially tense, particularly when a tenant is facing the loss of a home or personal property. The sheriff’s office says that even when an eviction starts as a paper service, it can become a confrontation at the front door.

California law requires landlords to go through court. If the landlord wins, the judge issues a Writ of Possession, the sheriff posts a Notice to Vacate, and the tenant generally has five days to leave. Fresno County Superior Court says the sheriff serves that notice before enforcing the writ, and if the tenant stays past the deadline, deputies can remove occupants and lock out the property. The courts also say landlords cannot simply lock tenants out, shut off utilities or throw out belongings; those so-called self-help evictions can violate California criminal and civil law.

In Fresno County, the civil process is tracked through the Sheriff’s Office and its Civil Connect portal, but the final step still lands on deputies in the field. County officials said the current system is strong enough that no immediate overhaul is planned, even after Porterville sharpened attention on the risks that come with a routine-looking eviction.