AB 1959 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Juvenile justice.

Summary

Existing law, as amended by the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes the district attorney to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction in a case in which a minor is alleged to have committed a felony when the minor was 16 years of age or older, or in a case in which a specified serious offense is alleged to have been committed by a minor when the minor was 14 or 15 years of age, but the minor was not apprehended prior to the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. This bill would, consistent with the intent of Proposition 57, authorize the district attorney to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction when the minor is alleged to have committed certain specified offenses when the minor was 14 or 15 years of age and was previously convicted in a court of criminal jurisdiction and is now subject to resentencing in juvenile court pursuant to specified provisions.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 13, 2026 Last action Aug 27, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/24/26 - Enrolled → AB1959 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The diff reflects a change in document format from a formal enrolled legislative document (with chapter heading, signatures, and traditional formatting) to a web page rendering of the same enrolled bill text. All operative provisions of Section 707 of the Welfare and Institutions Code remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from a formal enrolled bill layout (with chapter heading, clerk signatures, and traditional pagination) to a web page display format with navigation menus, metadata fields, and restructured headings. No changes to the actual statutory language.

04/09/26 - Amended Assembly → 08/24/26 - Enrolled · 4 edits · Aug 24, 2026

MODERATE

The enrolled version of AB 1959 removed the entire first section that would have amended Penal Code Section 1170 to create a juvenile life-without-parole recall and resentencing process, including exclusions for multiple murders, mass shootings, school zones, and places of worship. It also removed a specific provision allowing transfer of 14- or 15-year-olds to adult court for murder of law enforcement officers, certain offenses in school zones or on property of places of worship, or multiple murders in the same event. The enrolled bill is now limited solely to amending Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707 to allow district attorneys to seek transfer of 14- or 15-year-olds to adult court when they were previously convicted in adult court and are now subject to resentencing in juvenile court.

SCOPE

The entire amendment to Penal Code Section 1170 was removed. This provision would have allowed people sentenced to life without parole who were under 18 at the time of their offense to petition for recall and resentencing after serving 15 years, with additional petitions possible at 20 and 24 years. It included detailed criteria for resentencing, definitions for mass shooting and school zone, and exclusions for cases involving torture, public safety official victims, multiple murders, mass shootings, school zones, and places of worship.

A specific transfer provision (former subdivision (a)(3) of Section 707) was removed that would have allowed the district attorney to seek transfer of 14- or 15-year-olds to adult court for: murder of law enforcement personnel, attempted murder or assault with a firearm committed in a school zone or on property of a place of worship, or more than one offense of first or second degree murder in the same event.

The bill title was narrowed from amending both Penal Code Section 1170 and Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707 to amending only Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707, reflecting the removal of the recall/resentencing provisions.

ELIGIBILITY

The remaining transfer provision in subdivision (a)(2) was slightly revised for clarity. The enrolled version clarifies that the 14- or 15-year-old must either not have been apprehended before the end of juvenile court jurisdiction with jeopardy not yet attached, OR must have been previously convicted in a court of criminal jurisdiction and now be subject to resentencing in juvenile court under Penal Code Section 1170(d).

Floor votes · Senate Aug 20, 2026 · Assembly May 21, 2026

How they voted

34–0

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 40

Aug 20, 2026

D Democratic30

24 Yea 6

80% Yea

R Republican10

10 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.

lower

Aug 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 0.).

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 13).

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jul 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 15, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

May 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 69. Noes 0. Page 5207.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 14).

lower

Apr 22, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 8, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 7).

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Feb 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 16.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors