2025 Legislative Session: Key Developments in Administration of Justice Policy Area 

Throughout the 2025 Legislative Session, CSAC has kept you informed about key legislative developments. With Governor Newsom’s final actions now complete, CSAC will publish a series of articles highlighting new laws and vetoed bills in each policy area. This week, our focus is on the Administration of Justice policy area covering the impact of local law enforcement, corrections, and county governance.  

For additional information, please contact Ryan Morimune or Michaela Stone. 

SB 485 (Reyes) – VETOED
County public defender: appointment. CSAC opposed this measure alongside the Urban Counties of California (UCC) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) as it would have set a new precedent for appointed department leaders by changing the employment status for appointed county public defenders from “at-will” to “good cause” removal by the board of supervisors with a 3/5 vote for neglect of duty, malfeasance or misconduct, or other good cause. Absent further safeguards, this bill could have resulted in a perpetual appointment for public defenders, without an oversight or review process in place. Read the county coalition Senate Floor Alert here. 

AB 1108 (Hart) (Chapter 389, Statutes of 2025)
County officers: coroners: in-custody deaths. Prohibits a county that has a combined Sheriff-Coroner office from conducting cause of death determinations for in-custody deaths and would instead require that it be referred to an independent county coroner, a medical examiner, or a third-party provider for medical examination services.  

SB 27 (Umberg) (Chapter 528, Statutes of 2025)
Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program. This bill makes several changes to the existing Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program, including but not limited to referrals and eligibility criteria. Importantly, it authorizes a misdemeanor defendant deemed incompetent to stand trial to be referred to diversion or to the CARE Act court, if eligible. It also expands eligibility criteria from solely applying to the schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders under current law to also now include bipolar I disorder with psychotic features, except psychosis related to current intoxication.  

SB 627 (Wiener) (Chapter 125, Statutes of 2025)
Law enforcement: masks. Prohibits the use of facial coverings by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies (LEAs) operating in the state and requires LEAs working within California to adopt a publicly accessibly policy regarding facial coverings, amongst other provisions. 

SB 805 (Pérez) (Chapter 126, Statutes of 2025)
Crimes. Similar to the aim of SB 627 (Wiener), this measure prohibits the impersonation of a law enforcement officer and requires ununiformed officers to display visible identification, including their agency, when performing enforcement related duties. 

AB 1376 (Bonta) (Chapter 575, Statutes of 2025)
Wards: probation. Relating to youth offenders, this bill limits probation terms to 12 months, subject to specific exclusions, including a ward who is serving a custodial commitment. The applicable probation agency is authorized to request the probation duration be extended at a court hearing and requires both the ward and prosecutor to have access to all relevant evidence. However, only by a preponderance of evidence may a court continue an order of probation.  

AB 1071 (Kalra) (Chapter 721, Statutes of 2025)
Criminal procedure: discrimination. Relates to the existing Racial Justice Act (RJA), which prohibits the state from seeking, obtaining, or imposing a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin; this bill authorizes defendants to file a motion for disclosure of all applicable and relevant evidence per a potential RJA violation, and additionally authorizes judges to apply adequate legal remedies. 

AB 247 (Bryan) (Chapter 681, Statutes of 2025)
Incarcerated individual hand crew members: wages. Requires incarcerated individual hand crew members to earn $7.25 per hour while assigned to an active fire incident; youth placed at the Pine Grove Conservation Camp are also entitled to this pay rate.  

AB 248 (Bryan) (Chapter 252, Statutes of 2025)
County jails: wages. Authorizes a county Board of Supervisors to credit locally incarcerated individuals with an amount determined by the board; existing law authorizes incarcerated individuals confined in a county jail up to $2 for every eight hours of work.  

AB 1269 (Bryan) (Chapter 726, Statutes of 2025)
County and city jails: incarcerated person contacts. Requires county and city jails to notify all individuals included on medical release of information and next of kin forms within 24-hours of a death of an incarcerated individual. Existing law requires state prisons to follow the same notification procedure; this aligns city and county jails with state practice.   

AB 651 (Bryan) (Chapter 274, Statutes of 2025)
Juveniles: dependency: incarcerated parent. Authorizes the ability for incarcerated parents to be physically present at specific dependency hearings for their child, including by remote technology. The measure also extends existing, similar provisions for nonminor dependents.  

SB 820 (Stern) (Chapter 330, Statutes of 2025)
Inmates: mental health. Authorizes the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medication to individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial without prior informed consent in emergency situations. 

AB 572 (Kalra) (Chapter 697, Statutes of 2025)
Criminal procedure: interrogations. Existing law requires certain individuals, such as a prosecuting attorney or an investigator, to disclose their identity and affiliated agency prior to interviewing a victim or witness. This bill expands existing statute to include peace officers as well as expanding the criteria required for in-person interviews on the part of the interviewer. 

SB 524 (Arreguín) (Chapter 587, Statutes of 2025)
Law enforcement agencies: artificial intelligence. Requires law enforcement agencies that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to create reports to include specific information, including a disclosure of partial or full use of AI and the signature of the officer who prepared the report. 

SB 635 (Durazo) (Chapter 463, Statutes of 2025)
Food vendors and facilities: enforcement activities. Prohibits access to personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendors without a subpoena or judicial warrant. Additionally, if a local agency inquired about or collected information on an individual’s citizenship status or related information, such as place of birth, the bill requires all related records to be destroyed, except where required by law. 

AB 451 (Petrie-Norris) (Chapter 693, Statutes of 2025)
Law enforcement policies: restraining orders. Requires specified law enforcement agencies to develop and implement policies relating to restraining orders that include firearm restrictions, including but not limited to criminal protective orders and domestic violence restraining orders. Concurrently, law enforcement agencies are also required to update policies for responding to domestic violence incidents. 

SB 733 (Wahab) (Chapter 783, Statutes of 2025)
Sexual assault forensic evidence: testing. Authorizes victims of sexual assault aged 18 years and older to request that medical evidence not be tested under specified circumstances, amongst other provisions.  

AB 1036 (Schultz) (Chapter 444, Statutes of 2025)
Criminal procedure: postconviction discovery. Authorizes reasonable access, except as specified, to postconviction discovery materials for felony sentences resulting in incarceration in a state prison.  

AB 1178 (Pacheco) (Chapter 635, Statutes of 2025)
Peace officers: confidentiality of records. Existing law authorizes the exemption of peace officer records, generally, from Public Record Act requests; this bill requires a court to consider whether compelling disclosure in certain legal actions would pose a significant danger to the officer in question, with consideration given to undercover officers. 

AB 847 (Sharp-Collins) (Chapter 383, Statutes of 2025)
Peace officers: confidentiality of records. Authorizes access to confidential personnel records of law enforcement – including both peace officers and custodial officers – to oversight entities, as it relates to officer conduct. Subject to certain exceptions, this statute authorizes a review of confidential records in closed session.  

AB 1388 (Bryan) (Chapter 729, Statutes of 2025)
Law enforcement: settlement agreements. Existing law authorizes the exemption of peace officer records, generally, from Public Record Act requests; this bill exempts any agreement between an employing entity and a peace officer that requires the agency to destroy, remove, or conceal a record of a misconduct investigation.  

AB 992 (Irwin) (Chapter 175, Statutes of 2025)
Peace officers. Set to commence in 2031, this measure requires peace officers obtain a specified degree or certificate within 36 months of certification by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Additionally, provisions are included relating to determining the educational equivalency of oversea degrees or related professional experience. 

SB 276 (Wiener) (Chapter 406, Statutes of 2025)
City and County of San Francisco: merchandising sales. Authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to require permits through 2031 for the sale of merchandise disproportionately impacted by retail theft, as well as authorizes the permitting agency to accept identification in lieu of a social security number, amongst other provisions.  

SB 7 (McNerney) – VETOED
Employment: automated decision systems. This bill would have established requirements governing the use of automated decision systems (ADS) to make or help make employment-related decisions in the workplace and provide workers with anti-retaliation protections for exercising their rights under this measure. CSAC’s Government Finance & Administration team opposed this legislation, citing the bill as yet another, unfunded mandate. The broad scope of the language included in the bill also potentially impacts law enforcement agencies that utilize ADS. 

AB 1210 (Lackey) – VETOED 
Postrelease community supervision. This measure would have required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to coordinate with county probation departments along timelines relating to the release of inmates, as well as requiring care coordination for CalAIM services. 

AB 400 (Pacheco) – VETOED
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training: police canines. This bill would have required the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to issue recommendations to the California Legislature by July 2028 on the use of canines by law enforcement.  

SB 274 (Cervantes) – VETOED 
Automated license plate recognition systems. This measure would have regulated the sharing, use by law enforcement, and retention of certain data or information captured within automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems.