Issue · Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice

Every criminal justice bill, vote, and legislator stance in California, automatically classified by Maddy, our AI policy reader.

Total bills
166
2025-2026 Regular Session
Top supporter
Anna Caballero
92% support rate
Top opponent
Phillip Chen
8% support rate
Ranked legislators
10
5 support · 5 oppose
Key legislators

Who's moving criminal justice in California

Legislators moving criminal justice in California
Legislator Party Stance Support rate Decisive votes
Anna Caballero
Anna Caballero Senate · District 14
D
Strong +
92% 140
Joaquin Arambula
Joaquin Arambula House · District 31
D
Strong +
92% 99
Celeste Rodriguez
Celeste Rodriguez House · District 43
D
Strong +
91% 56
Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
Rebecca Bauer-Kahan House · District 16
D
Strong +
91% 86
Aisha Wahab
Aisha Wahab Senate · District 10
D
Strong +
90% 122
Phillip Chen
Phillip Chen House · District 59
R
Strong −
8% 65
Heath Flora
Heath Flora House · District 9
R
Strong −
11% 56
Brian Jones
Brian Jones Senate · District 40
R
Strong −
11% 71
Carl DeMaio
Carl DeMaio House · District 75
R
Strong −
12% 82
Ali Macedo
Ali Macedo House · District 33
R
Strong −
12% 96
Showing 81–90 of 166 bills

All criminal justice bills

passed both · California · Senate Aug 21, 2026

SB 1306: Controlled substances: gamma-butyrolactone.

Existing law requires any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other person in this state who sells, transfers, or otherwise furnishes any of a list of specified chemical substances, including gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) , to take specified actions, including to apply to and obtain a permit from the Department of Justice in order to sell, transfer, or otherwise furnish the substances specified above and to submit specified reports to the department, including if the entity obtains any of the substances specified above from a source outside of this state or if a permittee described above discovers the theft or loss of any of the substances specified above. Existing law makes failure to submit a report described above, and selling, transferring, or otherwise furnishing or obtaining any of the specified substances without a permit, a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would exempt specified chemical mixtures that contain GBL that are obtained or received from a source within or outside this state or are obtained, received, sold, transferred, exported, or otherwise furnished to any person or entity in this state or any other state from the requirements described above. Existing law requires any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other person that sells to any person or entity in this state or any other state, any chemical reagent or solvent of a value greater than $100 to take specified actions, including to prepare and sign a bill of sale with specified information and to retain the bill of sale for a specified period of time. Existing law makes a violation of this requirement a misdemeanor. This bill would exempt specified chemical mixtures that contain GBL that are obtained or received from a source within or outside this state or are obtained, received, sold, transferred, exported, or otherwise furnished to any person or entity in this state or any other state from the requirements described above if the requirements would be imposed solely due to the presence of GBL in the mixtures. This bill would make related findings and declarations.
passed both · California · Senate Aug 21, 2026

SB 1285: Juvenile court: procedure.

Existing law authorizes a judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was filed to dismiss the petition, or set aside the findings and dismiss the petition, if the court finds that the interests of justice and the welfare of the minor require that dismissal, or if the court finds that the minor is not in need of treatment or rehabilitation, regardless of whether the minor is, at the time of the order, a ward or dependent child of the court. This bill would clarify that an adjudication dismissed pursuant to that provision be deemed to have not occurred and prohibit a person from suffering any future adverse questions based on an adjudication dismissed pursuant to that provision. The bill would specify that a dismissal of a sustained petition pursuant to that provision is deemed to include both dismissal of a petition and a setting aside of any findings.
passed both · California · Senate Aug 21, 2026

SB 1211: Criminal procedure: postconviction investigation.

Existing law provides for the prosecution of crimes by the district attorney of each county. Existing law establishes procedures for litigating claims of factual innocence based on newly discovered evidence, including a motion for a new trial or a writ of habeas corpus. This bill would, if the district attorney accepts a case for postconviction review, as defined, authorize the district attorney to file a notice with the court notifying the court of the intent to investigate a claim of factual innocence. The bill would, upon the filing of the above-described notice, deem the case to be treated as if it were an open case for the purposes of investigating a claim of factual innocence. The bill would provide the district attorney with the power to issue subpoenas, compel the production of document and testimony, and file necessary motions to investigate claims, as specified. The bill would also require all materials obtained by the district attorney to be subject to a protective order, as specified, and to be disclosed to the petitioner or the petitioner's counsel within 60 days of the termination of the investigation.
signed · California · Assembly Aug 20, 2026

ACR 159: Relative to indigent defense.

This measure would affirm the fundamental importance of indigent defense to due process, equal justice, and democratic governance, recognize public defenders as essential protectors of constitutional rights and the rule of law, and encourage the development of statewide approaches to indigent defense.
passed · California · Senate Aug 20, 2026

SB 1395: Criminal procedure: protective orders.

Existing law allows the court to issue a protective order restraining a defendant from any contact with the victim if the defendant has been convicted of a crime of domestic violence, human trafficking, a crime in furtherance of a criminal street gang, or a registerable sex offense. Under existing law, the protective order may be valid for up to 10 years, as determined by the court. Beginning July 1, 2027, this bill would additionally allow the court to issue a protective order, valid for up to the later of 10 years or until the minor victim reaches 18 years of age, restraining a defendant from any contact with a victim if the defendant has been convicted of a registerable sex offense involving a minor victim, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council, no later than July 1, 2027, to develop forms, instructions, and rules relating to these orders. The bill would make other conforming changes. By authorizing the issuance of protective orders in certain circumstances and the extension of certain protective orders, a violation of which is punishable as 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.
passed · California · Senate Aug 20, 2026

SB 337: Prisons.

(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (department) and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the administration of correctional facilities and the care and custody of inmates. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to consider specified best practices when establishing policies and procedures for downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras, including, among other things, prohibiting the unauthorized use, duplication, or distribution of the data, and establishing storage periods for evidentiary and nonevidentiary data, as defined. This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2027, to establish policies and procedures that include circumstances under which a body-worn camera may be deactivated and would require the department to ensure that those policies and procedures reflect a minimum amount of time per shift that a body-worn camera be activated, and that the camera is activated when interacting with incarcerated persons. The bill would require the department to develop audit protocols to ensure compliance. The bill would require the department's policies and procedures to authorize deactivation of a body-worn camera during specified confidential interactions and would require staff to inform the subject the reason for the deactivation and to document the time of the deactivation, the reason for the deactivation, and the time of reactivation. This bill would require the department to adopt, and update regularly, a Prison Sexual Violence Elimination policy that would outline specified principles, including, among others, that the department maintains zero tolerance for sexual violence, staff sexual misconduct, and sexual harassment in its institutions, community correctional facilities, and conservation camps, and for all offenders under its jurisdiction. (2) Under existing law, a person sentenced to imprisonment in a state prison for a felony offense, as specified, may, during that period of confinement, be deprived only of those rights as is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests. Existing law enumerates certain civil rights of these prisoners. This bill would, by January 1, 2028, require the department to develop and implement protocols for when an incarcerated person is subject to a nonroutine search or scan, including, among other things, obtaining approval from a supervising officer of rank sergeant or above before the search or scan, documenting specified information about the search or scan, and providing the incarcerated person with a written receipt or other documentation with this information. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a pilot program at 3 institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of replacing unclothed body searches with scanning technology, as specified. (3) Existing law requires members of the department's Office of Internal Affairs to possess certification from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training for investigators, except as specified. Existing law requires the department to conduct a complete and thorough background check prior to training a peace officer who is selected to conduct internal affairs investigations and requires each person to satisfactorily pass the background check. Existing law states that any person who has been the subject of a sustained, serious disciplinary action, as specified, shall not pass the background check. This bill would require an investigator to disclose an actual or potential conflict of interest they may have in an investigation in which they are participating. The bill would require the department to take appropriate action to remedy that conflict. The bill would require an investigator to recuse themselves from participating in an investigation or a decision related to an investigation if they have a conflict of interest involving a staff member with whom they have a personal relationship, as defined. (4) Existing law authorizes the secretary of the department to prescribe and amend rules and regulations for the administration of prisons. Under existing law, the State Civil Service Act, certain acts, including convictions of certain crimes, are cause for discipline of a state employee or of a person whose name appears on an employment list. This bill would prohibit the department from appointing a person to a position that may involve any contact with incarcerated persons, or engaging a contractor for services that may involve contact with incarcerated persons, if the department obtains information that substantiated allegations of sexual abuse in the course of their employment have been reported against them, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from appointing any person to a position that may involve contact with incarcerated persons, or engaging a contractor for services that may involve contact with incarcerated persons, if the department learns that the person or contractor has been convicted of certain offenses, including felony domestic battery and specified sex offenses, among others. The bill would also prohibit the department from appointing any person to a position that may involve contact with incarcerated persons, or engaging a contractor for any services, if it obtains information that the person or contractor has been civilly or administratively adjudicated to have engaged in that conduct. The bill would require the department to make best efforts to contact all prior institutional employers for information on substantiated allegations of sexual abuse, among other things. The bill would require the department to conduct criminal background checks every 5 years of existing employees or implement a system to otherwise capture that information. (5) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for an employee or officer of a public entity health facility, or an employee, officer, or agent of a private person or entity that provides a health facility or staff for a health facility under contract with a public entity, to engage in sexual activity with a consenting adult who is confined in a health facility. Existing law additionally makes it a misdemeanor for specified individuals, including an employee or officer of a public entity detention facility or an employee with a department, board, or authority under the department, to engage in sexual activity with a consenting adult who is confined in a detention facility or who is an inmate, ward, or parolee, as specified. Existing law makes it a felony for any subsequent violations for a person who was previously convicted of these violations. Existing law requires a person convicted of a felony violation of the above-described provisions who is employed by a department, board, or authority within the department to be terminated, as specified, and prohibits that person from being eligible to be hired or reinstated by the department. Existing law requires administrators to report criminal sexual abuse by staff to law enforcement authorities. This bill would instead require that a person convicted of any violation of these provisions be terminated and prohibited from being reinstated by the department. The bill would also require that a person convicted of any violation of these provisions who is employed by a public entity health facility be terminated and made ineligible to be hired or reinstated by a public entity health facility. This bill would require administrators to report any known or suspected sexual abuse by staff to a local law enforcement agency. (6) Existing law establishes the Office of the Inspector General that is responsible for, among other things, contemporaneous public oversight of internal affairs investigations and staff grievance inquiries conducted by the department's Office of Internal Affairs. Existing law requires the Office of the Inspector General to have investigatory authority over all staff misconduct cases that involve sexual misconduct with an incarcerated person, as specified. This bill would authorize an incarcerated person to file an anonymous grievance relating to an allegation of sexual misconduct directly to the Office of the Inspector General, and would authorize the Inspector General to review any grievance filed from an incarcerated person, whether or not that grievance had been previously filed with the institution or hiring authority where the grievance occurred. (7) Existing regulations establish a grievance procedure for individuals in the custody of, or under the supervision of, the department. Under those regulations, a claimant is required to submit a grievance no later than 60 calendar days after discovering an adverse policy, decision, action, condition, or omission by the department. This bill would extend that time period to 120 calendar days.
passed · California · Senate Aug 13, 2026

SCR 118: Relative to the Jeffrey Epstein files.

This measure would make specified statements relating to the release of files involving Jeffrey Epstein and would urge federal and local law enforcement to take immediate action to hold accountable all those who harmed survivors or who were complicit in Epstein's crimes, regardless of elected title, royal title, party affiliation, or economic status.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 13, 2026

AB 2235: The Judicial Home Security Act.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Existing law authorizes a person who faces violence, harassment, or threats of violence from the public because of their work for a public entity to apply to the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Under existing law, any person who makes a false statement in an application is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the Attorney General to establish the Judicial Home Security Program under which a judicial officer, including an imminent, current, or former superior court judge or district court judge, or an adult household member of a judicial officer who is domiciled in California may request their home address in public records to be shielded or substituted with an alternate mailing address, as specified. The bill would establish the Judicial Home Security Program Fund in the General Fund and would authorize moneys in the fund to be made available for the administration of the program upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require the Attorney General to approve an application to the program if it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the Attorney General and contains prescribed information, including documentation showing the household contains an individual who is a judicial officer and a signed statement that the applicant fears for their safety or the safety of a household member of the applicant due to the employment of the judicial officer. The bill would require the application to be dated and signed, and would make knowingly providing false or incorrect information in the application a misdemeanor. The bill would require the Attorney General to commence accepting applications under the program on April 1, 2027. The bill would require the Attorney General to create, maintain, and update monthly a publicly available list that includes the name, county of residence, and designated alternate mailing address of each current program participant. The bill would also require the Attorney General to create, maintain, and update monthly a publicly available list that includes former participants who are no longer in the program. The bill would require, when disclosing or releasing records or information that would otherwise contain the home address of a program participant in any format or medium, a state or local agency to substitute the participant's alternate mailing address for any reference to the participant's home address. The bill would require, when disclosing or releasing records or information that would otherwise contain the situs of the home address of a program participant in any format or medium, a county assessor's office to substitute the program participant's alternate mailing address for the situs of the home address on assessment rolls, maps, property ownership statements and records, and any other records containing the home address of a program participant. The bill would require, when disclosing or releasing, in any format or medium, records or information that would otherwise contain the situs of the home address of a program participant who requests shielding, a county assessor's office and a county recorder's office to shield the participant's public record, including real property deeds, real estate records, and any other records containing the home address of a program participant. In this regard, the bill would require a program participant to submit a request containing a list of documents to be shielded, a sworn statement attesting to the accuracy of the information provided, and payment of a fee, as specified. The bill would authorize a program participant to submit a request to update the list of documents to be shielded, a specified. The bill would require the county assessor's office and county recorder's office to validate and shield any requested records within 5 business days of receipt of a request for shielding. The bill would authorize making any original documents available only to specified persons or in specified circumstances. The bill would prohibit the disclosure of a participant's home address by the Attorney General and state and local agencies, except in specified circumstances. The bill would prohibit a person or organization from publicly posting or displaying the home address of a program participant who has made a written demand of that person or organization, including on the internet, and would prohibit a third-party data broker or aggregator from selling, licensing, trading, purchasing, transferring, releasing, or otherwise sharing in any format or medium, the home address of a program participant, including on the internet, except as specified. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to adopt guidance to facilitate the administration of the act by state and local agencies. The bill would define terms for its purposes. By imposing new duties on local agencies, expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, and creating a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 13, 2026

AB 2537: Cannabis Enforcement Accountability and Public Health Prioritization Act of 2026.

Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. Existing law gives the Department of Cannabis Control the power, duty, purpose, responsibility, and jurisdiction to regulate commercial cannabis activity in the state. Existing law authorizes the department to take disciplinary actions against a licensee, as provided. Existing law requires the department to prepare and disseminate, as specified, an annual report relating to the department's activities, including, among other things, the amount of funds allocated and spent by the department for cannabis licensing, enforcement, and administration, and the number of state licenses issued, renewed, denied, suspended, and revoked. This bill, the Cannabis Enforcement Accountability and Public Health Prioritization Act of 2026, would require the department, beginning January 1, 2028, to prioritize its enforcement of MAUCRSA in a manner consistent with an enforcement prioritization policy, as defined, based on specified categories, that are listed from highest to lowest priority, based on conduct or conditions, as specified, that create a risk of harm, as described. The bill would define "risk of harm" as the likelihood of, among other things, interference with enforcement of state law. Beginning January 1, 2028, the bill would require the department to adopt and publish an enforcement prioritization policy, as specified, and would require the department to include in the above-described annual report the number, geographic distribution, and, as applicable, dollar amount of specified enforcement activities in relation to the risk-based enforcement framework, as provided.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 13, 2026

AB 2662: Working Group on Civil Rights Accountability.

Existing law requires law enforcement and state and local governments to interact with and report on federal action against individuals based on their perceived or actual immigration status in various specified manners. Under existing law, for example, a local governing body of any county, city, or city and county in which a local law enforcement agency has provided access to an individual during the last year by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is required to hold at least one community forum, as specified, to provide public information about ICE's access to individuals and to receive and consider public comment. This bill would establish within the Department of Justice on July 1, 2027, the Working Group on Civil Rights Accountability, consisting of 12 appointed members, to develop and maintain a statewide reporting dashboard with specific data fields to document and categorize alleged constitutional or civil rights violations arising from federal immigration enforcement activities within the state. The bill would require a nonprofit organization, if eligible as specified, to be authorized to submit reports to the dashboard. The bill would require the department to establish specific standards, protocols, and procedures for a nonprofit organization to submit reports to the dashboard, including establishing data verification procedures. The bill would require the working group, beginning January 1, 2028, and on each January 1 thereafter, to submit a report of specific information and policy recommendations to the Legislature and make that annual report publicly available. This bill would also exempt the reports required pursuant to the above-described provisions from the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Showing 81 to 90 of 166 bills
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