Criminal Justice

Under existing law, a person who willfully inflicts corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon specified persons, including, among others, the offender's spouse or former spouse, is guilty of a crime, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not more than 1 year, or by a fine of up to $6,000. Existing law also provides conditions for probation for a violation of these provisions if the person has a previous conviction of certain assault and battery offenses, as specified. This bill would make this crime punishable by imprisonment in state prison for 2, 4, or 5 years, or by imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 if a person is convicted for violating these provisions within 7 years of a previous felony conviction under these provisions. The bill would also, if a person has one prior felony conviction under these provisions, require that the defendant be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 60 days as a condition of probation. By increasing the penalty for existing crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, as added by the Victims' Bill of Rights, approved as Proposition 8 at the June 8, 1982, statewide primary election, and as amended by the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act of 1998, approved as Proposition 21 at the March 7, 2000, statewide primary election, among other things, defines a serious felony. Existing law prohibits plea bargaining in a case in which a serious felony is charged and imposes a 5-year enhancement for conviction of a serious felony if the person has previously been convicted of a serious felony. This bill would include knowingly furnishing fentanyl and fentanyl analogs to a minor within the definition of a serious felony. By expanding the scope of an enhancement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to immediately revoke the driving privilege of a person upon receipt of a duly certified abstract of the record of a court showing that the person has been convicted of, among other things, certain types of manslaughter. Existing law prohibits the department from reinstating that driving privilege until 3 years after the date of revocation. This bill would additionally prohibit the department from reinstating the driving privilege of a person convicted of those specified crimes and sentenced to incarceration in the state prison or county jail until 3 years after the date of release.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate community care facilities, residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness, residential care facilities for the elderly, and childcare centers. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal record for all applicants for licenses for these facilities and services and specified other employees and officers of these facilities. Existing law requires the department to issue an exemption from disqualification to certain applicants who have been convicted of an offense, if the individual's state and federal criminal history information independently supports a reasonable belief that the applicant is of present good character necessary to justify the granting of an exemption, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to use its discretion in evaluating a an individual for the purposes of making an exemption decision, as necessary to protect the health and safety of a child. This bill would require the department to issue an exemption from disqualification for current or former foster youth who have been convicted of certain offenses that occurred prior to the individual reaching 21 years of age and the youth will be employed in a peer support capacity and not a caregiving capacity and would not require any additional evidentiary showing.

Existing law, the Genetic Information Privacy Act, requires a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, as defined, to provide a consumer with certain information regarding the company's policies and procedures for the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure, as applicable, of genetic data, and to obtain a consumer's express consent for collection, use, or disclosure of the consumer's genetic data, as specified. Existing law assesses a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for a negligent violation of these provisions, and a civil penalty between $1,000 and $10,000, inclusive, for a willful violation of these provisions. This bill would require all local law enforcement agencies in the state to report to the Attorney General starting July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the number of reports filed in the past year on the theft of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the current status of those cases. The bill would require the Attorney General to, on or before January 1, 2028, report to the Legislature, and post on its internet website, the number of police reports filed on the theft of DNA and the current status of those cases. By increasing duties on local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.

Existing law provides that, except as specified, a person who assaults another with the intent to commit, among other things, mayhem, rape, sodomy, or oral copulation, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 4, or 6 years. Existing law provides that a person who commits those offenses against a person under 18 years of age shall be punished by imprisonment for 5, 7, or 9 years. This bill would additionally punish assault with the intent to commit those specified offenses when committed against a dependent person, as defined, by a caretaker or other adult who has care or custody of the dependent person, if the caretaker or other adult knows or should reasonably know that the victim is a dependent person, with imprisonment for 5, 7, or 9 years. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law defines extortion as the obtaining of property from another, with consent, or the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear, or under color of official right. Existing law further provides that fear sufficient to constitute extortion may be induced by certain threats, including a threat to accuse the threatened individual, or the individual's relative or family, of a crime. This bill would provide that a threat to post, distribute, or create AI-generated images or videos of another may also induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion. By expanding the crime of extortion, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law makes a person who, with the intent to cause cruel or extreme pain and suffering for the purpose of revenge, extortion, persuasion, or for any sadistic purpose, inflicts great bodily injury upon the person of another guilty of torture, and makes the crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of life. Existing law specifies that an inmate imprisoned under a life sentence shall not be paroled until they have served a term of at least 7 years or as established pursuant to a law that establishes a minimum term. This bill would prohibit a person imprisoned for committing the crime of torture from being eligible for parole until they have served at least 10 years, if the defendant is an adult who had care or custody of the victim and the victim was 14 years of age or younger at the time of the crime. By creating a new sentencing enhancement, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Existing law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement. Under existing law, the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers are confidential and not subject to public inspection. Existing law provides certain exemptions to this confidentiality, including the reports, investigations, and findings of certain incidents involving the use of force by a peace officer. Existing law authorizes an agency to redact the records disclosed for specified purposes including, among others, to remove personal data or information, as specified, and where there is a specific, articulable, and particularized reason to believe that disclosure of the record would pose a significant danger to the physical safety of the peace officer, custodial officer, or another person. This bill would require a court in an action to compel disclosure pursuant to specified provisions, in determining whether there is a specific, articulable, and particularized reason to believe that disclosure of the record would pose a significant danger to the physical safety of a person, to consider whether a particular peace officer is currently operating undercover and their duties demand anonymity. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 832.7 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 847 and AB 1388, to be operative only if this bill and AB 847 or AB 1388 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to have specified tools or other items, with the intent to feloniously break or enter into a building or other specified place. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to make, alter, or repair specified instruments if the person knows or has reason to believe the instrument is intended to be used in the commission of a misdemeanor or felony. This bill would add key programming devices, key duplicating devices, and signal extenders, as defined, to the list of instruments that are an element of the above offenses. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.