Hollister police officer conducting a breathalyzer test. Photo courtesy of Hollister Police Department.
Hollister police officer conducting a breathalyzer test. Photo courtesy of Hollister Police Department.

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Projected to recover up to $30,000 annually, the Hollister City Council on Nov. 3 approved an ordinance allowing Hollister Police to charge drivers involved in drunken driving-related accidents for emergency personnel costs. 

Hollister would join at least nine other California cities with similar cost recovery programs. 

The ordinance takes effect 30 days after it was approved. It comes at a time when the city, along with San Benito County and San Juan Bautista, are expected to consider a similar cost recovery program for the Hollister Fire Department.

The council held a public hearing on the plan on Oct. 20 and, according to the staff report, the city estimates drunken driving-related accidents take, on average, more than two hours to investigate, process the crash scene and book the offender in jail, and an additional hour for an officer to write the report. 

“These responses are time-sensitive and divert critical personnel away from other emergency calls and community safety needs,” the staff report said.

The report added that staff has yet to present the fee rate for approval by the City Council, but estimates the city can recover about $1,000 per accident. 

The additional fee incurred by violators would be added to other costs associated with drunken driving accidents. 

According to Shouse California Law Group, a drunken driving case can cost drivers between $8,000 and $25,000 per incident, including fines, lawyer fees, additional insurance cost and mandatory classes. 

Costs associated with DUI accidents would almost certainly drive those costs considerably higher.

The ordinance sets four conditions that must be present in order for the city to seek cost recovery:

  1. An arrest is made for a vehicle violation relating to alcohol or controlled substances.
  2. The arrested person is determined by a police officer to have caused the accident.
  3. A test demonstrates a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater for regular drivers.
  4. A test demonstrates a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04% or greater for commercial drivers.

Drivers who are convicted or agree to a plea deal in cases related to alcohol or controlled substances accidents, even if they don’t meet the above conditions, would also be required to pay the fee.

The fees are meant to cover the costs of police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders dispatched to an accident. 

The ordinance comes after the city made cuts across its departments to balance its 2025-26 budget. The city is also in a multi-year process of conducting rate studies to potentially raise charges for services such as water and airport fees. 

According to the Oct. 20 staff report, Hollister public safety personnel responded to 77 drunken driving-related accidents between January 2022 and Aug. 26, 2025, out of a total of 525 drunken driving arrests during the same period. That represents an average of about 21 Drunken driving-related accidents a year. 

According to Berkeley’s Transportation Injury Mapping System, San Benito County ranks 32nd in the state in the percentage of traffic collisions that are related to drunken driving from 2019 through 2023, at 15.2%.

According to the ordinance, the city’s finance and management services agency is responsible for invoicing those responsible for such costs.

People have 15 days from the issuance of the invoice to file an appeal with the city.

Airport fees

Also during the meeting, the council heard a presentation on the Hollister Municipal Airport fee study, which recommended “modest” adjustments to its fees. 

But the report also stated higher rates won’t make the airport self-sufficient and that it needs to grow through future developments that would generate revenue. 

According to the staff report, the airport does not generate enough revenue to cover its operations and maintenance and accumulate matching funds for grants.

According to the presentation, the airport’s  2025-26 fiscal year budget is $1.62 million and is expected to generate $1.44 million in revenue. 

The City Council took no action on the issue.

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Noe Magaña is a BenitoLink reporter. He began with BenitoLink as an intern and later served as a freelance reporter. He has also served as content manager and co-editor. He experiments with videography...