AB 2384 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Crimes: records: sealing.

Summary

Existing law allows a person who was arrested or convicted of a nonviolent offense while they were a victim of human trafficking to petition the court, under penalty of perjury, for vacatur relief. Existing law requires a court that issues an order for relief pursuant to these provisions to also order specified law enforcement agencies to seal and destroy their records of the offense. This bill would authorize a person who has suffered an arrest for, or was charged with, any offense that did not result in conviction or who was convicted of an eligible offense, as defined, to petition the court to have their records of that conviction, charge, or arrest sealed if 4 years have elapsed since the date, including, among others, on which the person was arrested, as specified, or on which the defendant completed any terms of incarceration, probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community supervision, or parole associated with the record, whichever was later, during which the person has not been convicted of a new offense. The bill would require a court granting this relief to also order specified law enforcement agencies to seal their records. By increasing duties on local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exclude specified offenses from being considered an eligible offense, including, among others, a serious or violent felony, or a sex offense. The bill would authorize a criminal justice agency to access and use a conviction record sealed pursuant to these provisions as required by an initiative statute and for the limited purpose of determining eligibility and suitability of a defendant for diversion. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Aug 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

05/18/26 - Amended Assembly → AB2384 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The differences are entirely formatting and presentation-related: the bill text moved from a traditional printed legislative format (with line numbers and page headers) to a web-based layout with navigation elements. The actual statutory language of Section 1203.48 is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill was reformatted from a traditional printed legislative document (with line numbers, page breaks, and centered headers) to a web-based layout including navigation links, search tools, and version comparison features. No statutory language was changed.

03/16/26 - Amended Assembly → 05/18/26 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · May 18, 2026

MODERATE

The May 18 amendment to AB 2384 removes the entire provision amending Penal Code Section 236.4 (which would have added enhanced penalties and fund allocation for human trafficking convictions), narrowing the bill to solely address record sealing for victims of human trafficking. It also expands the circumstances under which criminal justice agencies may access sealed records to include diversion eligibility determinations, adds new offense exclusions from sealing eligibility (including certain DUI offenses and any offense usable as a prior), and adds Assembly Member Sharp-Collins as a coauthor.

SCOPE

The entire amendment to Penal Code Section 236.4 was deleted. This provision would have allowed courts to impose additional fines up to $1,000,000 on human trafficking convicts, added consecutive prison terms of 5, 7, or 10 years for great bodily injury during trafficking, added 5-year consecutive enhancements for repeat trafficking convictions, and directed fine proceeds to a Victim-Witness Assistance Fund split 70/30 between victim service providers and law enforcement.

The bill's title and digest were updated to remove reference to amending Section 236.4, confirming the bill now focuses exclusively on adding Penal Code Section 1203.48 (record sealing for human trafficking victims).

ELIGIBILITY

Subdivision (k) was expanded so that criminal justice agencies may access sealed records not only as required by an initiative statute but also for the limited purpose of determining a defendant's eligibility and suitability for a diversion program.

A new exclusion from 'eligible offense' status was added: any offense of Vehicle Code Section 23103 (DUI) as specified in Section 23103.5, meaning certain DUI convictions can no longer be sealed under this bill.

A new exclusion from 'eligible offense' status was added: any offense that may be pled and proved as a prior offense for purposes of imposing an increased sentence or enhancement upon conviction. This broadens the category of offenses that are ineligible for sealing.

TECHNICAL

Assembly Member Sharp-Collins was added as a coauthor alongside Assembly Member Schultz.

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2384 was dramatically expanded from a minor grammatical fix to the human trafficking fine provision into a comprehensive record-sealing law for people who were arrested, charged, or convicted while victimized by human trafficking. The amendment adds an entirely new Penal Code section (1203.48) that allows eligible individuals to petition courts to seal their criminal records after a four-year waiting period, with the court ordering law enforcement and the FBI to seal those records. This matters because it gives human trafficking victims a path to clear their criminal histories, which can otherwise block employment, housing, and other opportunities.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a single technical correction to the human trafficking fine statute into a broad record-sealing law covering arrests, charges, and convictions related to human trafficking victimization, with new obligations on state and local criminal justice agencies and the FBI.

SCOPE

Added an entirely new Penal Code section (1203.48) creating a record-sealing mechanism for people who were arrested, charged, or convicted in connection with human trafficking victimization. The original bill only made a grammatical fix to the existing human trafficking fine statute.

ELIGIBILITY

Established eligibility criteria: a person may petition if they were arrested without conviction, charged without conviction, or convicted of an 'eligible offense.' A four-year waiting period applies from arrest, eligibility date, or completion of all terms (whichever is later), with no new convictions during that period. If a conviction contains multiple offenses, all must meet eligibility requirements.

DEFINITION

Defined 'eligible offense' by exclusion: it does not include serious or violent felonies under Section 667.5(c), sex offenses requiring registration under Section 290, certain child abuse felonies under Section 273.5(a), and specific vehicle code offenses (Sections 23152 and 23153).

REQUIREMENT

Set procedural requirements: petition must be served on the prosecutorial agency with a 45-day response window; a hearing is required if the petition is opposed; the court may consolidate petitions from different jurisdictions with agreement of all parties.

Added denial grounds: a petition cannot be granted if the petitioner is subject to unexpired criminal protective orders or has not paid financial restitution that directly benefits a crime victim. Fines (other than restitution) are stayed while the petition is pending.

ENFORCEMENT

Required that government agencies seal records within 90 days of the court order, and that the Department of Justice forward the order to the FBI to request sealing for non-criminal justice purposes. Created an exception allowing criminal justice agencies to access sealed conviction records as required by initiative statute.

FISCAL

Changed fiscal committee designation from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting the new obligations imposed on local law enforcement agencies. Added a state mandate reimbursement provision (Section 2).

TECHNICAL

Added coauthor Assembly Member Schultz and updated the legislative counsel digest to reflect the expanded scope of the bill.

Floor votes · Assembly May 27, 2026

How they voted

54–18

Passed · 7 other

Total votes 79

May 27, 2026

D Democratic59

54 Yea 5

91% Yea

R Republican20

18 Nay 2

90% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (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 1.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

May 27, 2026

Assembly · Passed

Assembly Vote: pass (54-18-7)

assembly

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 55. Noes 18.)

lower

May 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

lower

May 14, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (May 14).

lower

May 13, 2026

Committee

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

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors