BILL ANALYSIS
ACR 164
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 7, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
ACR 164 (Villines) - As Introduced: May 17, 2010
SUBJECT : State Route 168
SUMMARY : Designates a segment of State Route (SR) 168 as the
Deputy Sheriff Joel B. Wahlenmaier Memorial Highway.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life and career of Joel B. Wahlenmaier, a Deputy
Sheriff with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, who lost his
life in the line of duty.
2)Designates the segment of SR 168 from approximately 0.5 miles
east of Lodge Road to Ockenden Ranch Road in Fresno County as
the Deputy Sheriff Joel B. Wahlenmaier Memorial Highway.
3)Requests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
determine the cost of erecting the appropriate signs,
consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway
system, showing this special designation and, upon receiving
donations from nonstate sources covering the cost.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility to operate
and maintain state highways. This includes the installation and
maintenance of highways signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Joel B. Wahlenmaier was born in Bakersfield and
raised in Fresno, attending local schools and Reedley College.
Upon joining the Fresno County Sheriff's Office in 1998, Deputy
Sheriff Wahlenmaier worked in the Patrol Division and as a
detective assigned to the Robbery/Property Crimes and Homicide
units. He was also a long-time member of the Sheriff's Search &
Rescue Team and was a dedicated officer who served his community
and loved his profession.
On February 25, 2010, Deputy Sheriff Wahlenmaier was
investigating a felony assault case in the town of Minkler,
California, in eastern Fresno County. While being served a
search warrant, the suspect ambushed the deputies with gunfire.
ACR 164
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Deputy Sheriff Wahlenmaier suffered gunshot wounds that resulted
in his death upon his arrival at Community Regional Medical
Center. The subsequent investigation found that the suspect, a
51-year-old Minkler man, was angry with other residents of the
town and had planned to ambush law enforcement officers if they
attempted to contact him. The suspect committed suicide during
the incident. Reedley Police Officer Javier Bejar was also
killed in the gun battle.
Author's amendments : The author proposes to amend the bill to
make minor editorial changes and to add both Assembly and Senate
coauthors.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093