Committee Finalizing Courthouse Site for Law Enforcement Tribute
COLUSA, Calif. — Plans for the Colusa County Law Enforcement Memorial continue to move forward, with organizers fine-tuning details to ensure the monument is placed thoughtfully and built to last.
Supervisor Merced Corona, who chairs the memorial committee, opened Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors discussion with an apology for delaying the presentation, saying he wants to ensure the project is done correctly and respectfully.
“I’d like to postpone this item until December,” Corona said. “We were trying to get our 501(c)(3) status, that’s been solved, but there are two other issues that have come up, and we haven’t gotten the answers yet.”
The most pressing question, he said, involves the exact location of the monument. Earlier design renderings placed the memorial in front of the courthouse on Market Street, but public feedback has raised concerns that the placement could alter the building’s historic appearance.
“The picture is not to scale, it’s not going to be that large,” Corona said. “This is something that has come up, that we are going to ruin the aesthetics of the courthouse, and that is not our intent.”
He clarified that the memorial’s tallest section would stand about five feet high and would sit farther back from the street than early images suggested. Committee members, he added, are evaluating alternative sites on the courthouse grounds.
“It’s still going to be at the courthouse, but not necessarily in the front,” Corona said.
Supervisor Kent Boes voiced support for relocating the monument to preserve the courthouse’s historic charm.
“I remember a number of years ago when the oak trees came down and I thought, my god, our courthouse is so beautiful,” Boes said. “I didn’t even know there was a little golden bear up top. To have something like this so large right in front of it is kind of odd.”
Corona said the committee will present a complete proposal, including site selection, at the Board’s first meeting in December.
The memorial, first proposed in 2024, will honor five fallen officers who died in the line of duty in Colusa County. The project is funded entirely through private donations, with a goal of raising $100,000.
A fundraiser held earlier this month at Farmers Brewing Co. in Princeton helped launch the campaign. The North Valley Community Foundation is managing all contributions. Tax-deductible donations can be made by sending checks to either The Colusa County Law Enforcement Memorial PO Box 782 Arbuckle, CA 95912 or The North Valley Community Foundation 1811 Concord Ave., Suite 220 Chico, CA 95928. Or on the North Valley Community Foundation website https://nvcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=9906
Organizers say the monument will serve as a place of reflection and remembrance for the community and as a lasting tribute to those who gave their lives in service.
