Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law provides that a defendant is eligible for diversion if they have been diagnosed with certain mental disorders and the court finds that the mental disorder was a significant factor in the commission of the charged offense, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the disorder was not a motivating, causal, or contributing factor to the defendant's involvement in the alleged offense. Existing law prohibits defendants charged with specified offenses, including murder, from being placed in this diversion program. This bill would require that the diagnosis or rediagnosis with a mental disorder be within 5 years before the alleged offense. Existing law makes a defendant suitable for this diversion program if, among other criteria, a qualified mental health expert opines that the defendant's symptoms of the mental disorder that caused, contributed to, or motivated the criminal behavior, would respond to mental health treatment and the defendant will not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety if treated in the community, as specified. The bill would revise that standard and instead require the court to find that the defendant will not pose a substantial and undue risk to the physical safety of another person if treated in the community. The bill would require the mental health expert's opinion to include that the proposed mental health diversion plan is clinically appropriate to address the symptoms of the defendant's mental disorder, as specified. The bill would require the court to state the reasons for denial on the record.
Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires a person convicted of one of certain crimes, as specified, to register with law enforcement as a sex offender while residing in California or while attending school or working in California, as specified. Existing law, on and after July 1, 2021, authorizes a person to file a petition in the superior court in the county in which they are registered for termination from the sex offender registry on or after their next birthday following the expiration of the mandated minimum registration period. If the district attorney requests a hearing regarding the above-described petition, under existing law, the district attorney is entitled to present evidence regarding whether community safety would be significantly enhanced by requiring continued registration. Existing law requires the court, in determining whether to order continued registration pursuant to the hearing, to consider specified information, including the person's current risk of reoffense as indicated on the State-Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders (SARATSO) , as specified. This bill would authorize the court to order the petitioner to be present at the hearing described above, as specified. The bill would require the hearing to be heard in the county in which the person is registered. The bill would additionally require the court to consider whether the offender was in a position of trust or authority in relation to the victim and proof of participation in or successful completion of sex offender-specific treatment by the offender in the above-described determination. The bill would require the court to verify, as specified, participation in or completion of treatment. The bill would make other clarifying changes.
This bill designates the week of April 19 to April 25, 2026, as Crime Victims' Rights Week. The primary purpose is to formally recognize and highlight the rights and needs of individuals who have been affected by crime. It does not create new laws or alter existing legal procedures but serves as a commemorative resolution to raise awareness during a specific time period.
This House Resolution designates April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in California and formally recognizes April 30, 2025, as Denim Day. It encourages all Californians to wear jeans on Denim Day to symbolize that no one "invites" or "deserves" sexual assault, reinforcing the message that a survivor’s clothing is never relevant to consent. The resolution references California’s existing law (AB 939, 2021), which prohibits using a survivor’s attire as evidence of consent in sexual assault cases. As a symbolic gesture - not a new law - it aims to raise public awareness and support survivors, aligning with California’s established victim-centered approach to sexual violence.
Existing law provides for various employment programs to assist formerly incarcerated individuals in finding and retaining employment, including the Pre-Release Construction Trades Certificate Program administered by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Prison to Employment Program administered by the California Workforce Development Board. Existing law establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. This bill would, by January 1, 2028, require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in partnership with the Department of Industrial Relations, to establish the Preapprenticeship Pathways to Employment Pilot Program. The bill would, until January 1, 2032, provide incarcerated individuals access to preapprenticeship training in the skilled construction and building trades. The bill would require the program to provide, among other things, instruction based on the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum and content coordinated with joint apprenticeship training committees. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement the program at one men's facility and one women's facility. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, beginning January 1, 2029, to annually report certain data regarding participation in the program to the Legislature.
Existing law requires a law enforcement agency, as defined, to obtain specific approval of a governing body prior to acquiring military equipment, as specified. Existing law defines "military equipment" to include an unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicle. This bill would prohibit a law enforcement agency from purchasing, on or after January 1, 2027, an uncrewed, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicle unless the vehicle contains an option to turn off any data collection programs that are not necessary for the vehicle to function and the law enforcement agency uses an American data storage company, as defined, to house all data collected, including, but not limited to, video and photographic images, as specified, or both. For uncrewed, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles purchased on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2027, the bill would require a law enforcement agency to use an American data storage company. For uncrewed aerial or ground vehicles owned or possessed by a law enforcement agency prior to January 1, 2026, the bill would require the law enforcement agency to use an American data storage company after the current contract to house the data expires. The bill would require contracts entered into pursuant to these provisions with an American data storage company to prohibit the American data storage company from using, selling, renting, trading, or otherwise sharing this data with any other entity.
Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish various training and educational program, including, among others, the Education and Employment Reentry Program, within the corps, to provide education and training to formerly incarcerated individuals who successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew. This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to jointly evaluate the Ventura Training Center and would require the evaluation to include specified components, including, among others, an evaluation of ways to increase the rate of graduated trainees entering the firefighter workforce. The bill would require the departments to submit a report describing the evaluation to certain legislative committees by January 1, 2026, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law creates specified programs that employ inmates, including the joint venture program, which is established by the Secretary of Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation within state prisons that allows a public entity, nonprofit or for-profit entity, organization, or business to employ inmates confined in the state prison system for the purpose of producing goods or services. Existing law also establishes the Prison Industry Authority within the department for the purpose of developing and operating industrial, agricultural, and service enterprises employing prisoners in institutions under the jurisdiction of the department and for the purpose of creating and maintaining working conditions within the enterprises to ensure prisoners employed have the opportunity to work productively, to earn funds, and to acquire or improve effective work habits and occupational skills. Existing law requires, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to establish the California Employee Ownership Hub that would, among other things, work with all California state agencies whose regulations and programs affect employee-owned companies, and businesses with the potential to become employee owned, to enhance opportunities and reduce barriers. Existing law, the Cooperative Corporation Law, governs the organization and operation of cooperatives, including, among others, worker cooperatives. Existing law defines a worker cooperative as a corporation formed under the Cooperative Corporation Law that includes a class of worker-members who are natural persons whose patronage consists of labor contributed to or other work performed for the corporation. Existing law requires specified information to be included in the articles of incorporation or bylaws, including, among other things, the apportionment and distribution of net earnings and losses of a worker cooperative. Existing law makes the violation of specified provisions under the Cooperative Corporation Law a crime. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish the Inmate Cooperative Program to facilitate operations of inmate worker cooperatives within state prison facilities. The bill would authorize a group of inmates who seek to establish a worker cooperative to apply to the program by submitting an application to the warden of the facility. The bill would require the warden to approve an application only if the applicant, or a cooperative community partner acting on their behalf, submits a plan of operation to the warden containing specified information, including, among other things, the cooperative's draft bylaws, which describe the cooperative's mission, the cooperative's internal governance structure, an initial management structure, and compensation structure. The bill would define a cooperative community partner as a nonprofit organization, cooperative association, cooperative corporation, or individual that supports the inmates with the establishment, operation, and governance of certified inmate cooperatives. This bill would require a group of inmates seeking to form a worker cooperative to incorporate as a worker cooperative following the approval of an application by the warden. The bill would require the Inmate Cooperative Program to certify the worker cooperative following approval of an application by the warden and incorporation of the cooperative. The bill would require the department to enter into a contract with the cooperative to outline the terms of operation, responsibilities, and compliance requirements. The bill would require a certified cooperative, as a condition to operate in a state prison facility, to write into their bylaws that their cooperative community partner is required to deduct 40% from each inmate's gross wages and deposit the wages into a specified account. The bill would authorize a certified cooperative to engage in the production of goods, agricultural products, or services for the cooperative's use and sale. This bill would require the California Employee Ownership Hub to choose a cooperative institution, which would, among other things, assist in the selection of a financial institution that would steward and manage an account that would be used to, among other things, create economic opportunities for survivors of crime and other persons impacted by their interactions with the criminal justice system with grants for specified purposes. The bill would define a cooperative institution as a nongovernmental nonprofit organization, cooperative association, or similar entity that is dedicated to supporting, overseeing, and promoting cooperative enterprises. The bill would require the financial institution to submit an annual report to the Governor detailing the account's activities, resource allocations, and measurable outcomes of funded initiatives. This bill would also require the department to deduct from inmate wages mandatory deductions for restitution orders and fines, among other things. The bill would require the department to provide certified cooperatives with access to necessary equipment, materials, and resources to support their operations, with no obligation for the department to fund these resources. The bill would prohibit an employee of the department from serving as a member, officer, or board member of any cooperative established under the Inmate Cooperative Program or from having any direct or indirect financial interest in the cooperative or its operations.
Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act (act) , requires a person convicted of specified crimes to register with law enforcement as a sex offender while residing in California or while attending school or working in California, as specified. Existing law establishes 3 tiers of registration based on specified criteria, for periods of at least 10 years, at least 20 years, and life, respectively, for a conviction of specified sex offenses. Existing law exempts from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register. A willful failure to register, as required by the act, is a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the underlying offense. This bill would require offenders convicted of engaging in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is more than 3 years younger than the offender or, if the offender was 21 years of age or older, engaging in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years of age, if the offense occurred on or after January 1, 2026, to register for 10 years as a tier one offender under the act, unless the offender was not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the offender to register. By expanding the scope 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, commencing January 1, 2019, made various changes to the law governing ignition interlock devices (IID) , including, among other things, requiring a person who has been convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, as specified, to install for a specified period of time as ordered by the court, an IID on the vehicle they operate, provided however that installation of an IID is discretionary for a first offender, as specified; authorizing a person convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence, if all other requirements are satisfied, including the installation of an IID, to apply for a restricted driver's license without completing a period of license suspension or revocation; and requiring ignition interlock device manufacturers to be in compliance with specified provisions relating to payment for the costs of an ignition interlock device. Existing law makes these changes operative until January 1, 2026. On January 1, 2026, existing law, as it relates to these provisions, is generally reinstated to read as it read prior to January 1, 2019. Existing law makes it a crime to violate certain provisions relating to IIDs and motor vehicles equipped with IIDs. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2033, and would instead reinstate the law to how it read prior to January 1, 2019, on January 1, 2033. By extending the application of a crime, 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.
