Courts: disqualification of judges.

Entire amendment to Penal Code Section 745 was removed. This section would have prohibited the state from seeking or obtaining criminal convictions or imposing sentences based on race, ethnicity, or national origin, and provided defendants with a mechanism to challenge such conduct in court.

Removed phased applicability provisions that would have extended the anti-discrimination protections to all pending cases, then to death penalty and immigration-impact cases (2023), state prison and county jail sentences (2024), felony convictions from 2015 onward (2025), and all felony convictions regardless of date (2026).

Removed provisions establishing that a violation of Section 745(a) could be proven by showing bias or animus toward the defendant, use of racially discriminatory language, disparate charging patterns, or disparate sentencing patterns, all provable by a preponderance of the evidence without requiring proof of intentional discrimination.

Removed remedies for findings of racial discrimination in criminal proceedings, including granting mistrials, discharging juries, dismissing enhancements or reducing charges, vacating convictions and sentences, and making defendants ineligible for the death penalty upon a finding of violation.

Removed definitions for key terms including 'more frequently sought or obtained,' 'prima facie showing,' 'relevant factors,' 'racially discriminatory language,' 'state,' and 'similarly situated.'

In Section 170.3(c)(1), the service provision was expanded to allow service of a disqualification statement on the court executive officer, the clerk, or the designee of the clerk of the court (previously only the clerk or court executive officer).

The bill title and legislative counsel's digest were updated to remove all references to criminal procedure and discrimination, now describing the bill solely as relating to courts and disqualification of judges.

Section 170.3(c)(1) no longer lists the court executive officer as a person who may be served with a written verified statement objecting to a judge's impartiality. Service may now only be made on the judge personally, their clerk, or the designee of the clerk of the court (provided the judge is present in the courthouse or in chambers).

Standard enrollment formatting changes: removal of line numbers and page headers from the Senate amendment format, addition of Assembly passage date (August 24, 2026), Senate passage date (August 20, 2026), signature blocks for the Chief Clerk, Secretary of the Senate, Private Secretary of the Governor, and a gubernatorial approval line.

Assembly Member Zbur added as coauthor of the bill.

Legislative counsel's digest updated to add 'Courts: disqualification of judges' as a subject heading, clarifying the bill covers both criminal procedure (Penal Code 745) and judge disqualification (Code of Civil Procedure 170.3).

Amendment markup (strikethroughs showing prior language) removed throughout Section 170.3, presenting the text in clean form without inline edit indicators.

Bill title expanded from 'relating to criminal procedure' to 'relating to criminal procedure. courts.' to reflect that the bill also amends judge disqualification procedures under Code of Civil Procedure Section 170.3.