DUI Attorney in Rolling Hills

Reviewed by Ron Chini, Esq. · CA State Bar No. 263308 · DUI defense attorney in Irvine, CA since 2009.
About the author →

How DUIs are policed in Rolling Hills

Rolling Hills has no police department of its own. Like its neighbor Rolling Hills Estates, the city contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, whose Lomita Station has jurisdiction over Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Lomita, and the surrounding unincorporated Palos Verdes Peninsula area. Deputies patrol Rolling Hills' private interior roads under that contract, and a DUI stop inside the gates is handled the same as one anywhere else in the Lomita Station's territory.

The California Highway Patrol's South Los Angeles Area office (19700 Hamilton Avenue, Torrance) covers the state highways around the peninsula — including Pacific Coast Highway and the connecting roads into Rancho Palos Verdes and Torrance — but CHP does not patrol Rolling Hills' private interior streets. Most DUI stops involving Rolling Hills residents or guests happen either inside the gates (LASD Lomita Station) or on the public roads just outside them.

• No dedicated Rolling Hills police department — policing is contracted to LASD's Lomita Station
• Lomita Station's jurisdiction expressly includes "City of Rolling Hills" by name, alongside Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes
• CHP's South Los Angeles Area office patrols the state highways surrounding the peninsula, not Rolling Hills' private roads

Where a Rolling Hills DUI case is heard

A DUI arrest anywhere in Rolling Hills is filed at the Torrance Courthouse (South Bay District), which has jurisdiction over Rolling Hills, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, and the portion of Torrance west of Western Avenue. Misdemeanor DUI cases arising outside the City of Los Angeles — which includes Rolling Hills — are prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, not a city attorney.

Booking and getting a car back after a Rolling Hills arrest

Someone arrested for DUI in Rolling Hills is typically taken first to LASD's Lomita Station (26123 Narbonne Ave, Lomita) for initial processing. If the arrest isn't resolved by citation and release, LASD generally transports adult male arrestees to the Inmate Reception Center at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility (450 Bauchet St, Los Angeles) for formal booking, and female arrestees to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. A vehicle left on Rolling Hills' private roads is towed under the same California impound rules that apply countywide — getting it back requires the tow yard's release paperwork, proof of current registration and insurance, and the applicable fees, and an unlicensed or suspended driver can face a longer administrative hold.

Rolling Hills' private, gated streets — not to be confused with Rolling Hills Estates

Rolling Hills is one of the few genuinely gated, private cities in California. The entire city — about 3 square miles, roughly 1,739 residents as of the 2020 Census — is accessible only through three guarded gates, at Palos Verdes Drive North, Palos Verdes Drive East, and Crest Road, with every visitor needing resident authorization to enter. Its roughly 26 miles of interior roads and 23 miles of equestrian trails are privately owned and maintained by the Rolling Hills Community Association, not the City or Caltrans, and the city has no sidewalks, streetlights, or traffic signals by design. California DUI law applies the same way inside the gates as anywhere else — driving a vehicle while impaired on Rolling Hills' private roads is treated no differently in court than a DUI on a public street.

Rolling Hills Estates, by contrast, is a separate, larger, non-gated city immediately next door — it has ordinary public streets, a shopping center (the Peninsula Center), and no guard gates. The two cities are policed by the same LASD Lomita Station and share the same Torrance Courthouse, but they are distinct municipalities, and only Rolling Hills is the gated one.

← Back to Los Angeles County DUI Defense

Ron Chini, Esq.

DUI Defense Attorney · CA State Bar No. 263308

Ron defends DUI cases across Southern California from his Irvine office, in English and Farsi — and works directly with you, not a call center.

Learn more about Ron Chini →