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Council adopts city flag‑handling and display policy after citing 2022 Supreme Court ruling
Summary
Perris adopted a formal flag display policy limiting flags flown on city property to government speech (including military branch flags at the veterans memorial) to avoid compelled private‑speech issues after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Shurtleff v. City of Boston (2022). The resolution passed 5‑0.
The Perris City Council adopted a formal Flag Handling and Display Policy to establish a government‑speech approach for flags flown at city facilities. Assistant City Manager Wendell Bugtai presented the proposed policy and cited a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Shurtleff v. City of Boston) in which the Court held that a municipal practice that allowed many privately requested flags to be flown on city property resulted in the city functioning as a forum for private speech.
Bugtai said Perris lacked a formal flag policy and that without clear rules the city could face legal exposure; staff recommended a government‑speech policy limited to official flags (U.S., state, local, military branch flags at the Veterans Memorial) rather than opening city flagpoles to third‑party requests. City staff also noted only three other Riverside County cities have formal flag policies, and those are limited to government speech.
Mayor Pro Tem Rapp moved to adopt the proposed resolution; the motion was seconded and the council recorded a unanimous roll‑call vote (Councilmember Corona, Mayor Pro Tem Rapp, Councilmember Vallejo, Councilmember Nava and Mayor Vargas all voting yes). The resolution number was not specified on the agenda packet and will be added to the administrative record.
The policy sets internal administrative rules for flag requests and display and is intended to align the city with current First Amendment case law by maintaining control over flags displayed at city facilities.
What’s next: staff will finalize the resolution numbering and implement administrative procedures to process official flag displays and the Veterans Memorial program.
