Legislative Letters

California Legislation - 2024

Welcome to our District Attorney's Legislative Support and Sponsor Letters page. Here, you'll find a concise list of supported or sponsored legislation, each accompanied by a brief description and a downloadable PDF letter. Explore these documents to understand our commitment to promoting justice and enhancing public safety in our community.

Crimes

AB 1802 is sponsored by LADA and would eliminate the sunset date of California’s Organized Retail Theft statute. One of the most important tools we have to combat the problem of retail theft is California’s Organized Retail Theft statute, Penal Code Section 490.4. California’s Organized Retail Theft statute makes it a wobbler for an organized group of two or more persons to steal goods from a merchant with the intent to sell, exchange or return the goods for value.

SB 933 (Wahab) would amend the child pornography and obscenity statutes to specify that computer-generated images include images generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

SB 982 (Wahab) would remove the sunset date on Penal Code section 490.4, California’s Organized Retail Theft statute, which makes it a crime chargeable as a felony or a misdemeanor for an organized group of two or more persons to steal goods from a merchant with the intent to sell, exchange, or return the goods for value. That section will expire on January 1, 2026; however, by removing the sunset date, section 490.4 will become permanent.

Firearms

SB 899 (Skinner) would extend the existing firearm and ammunition relinquishment procedures that apply to civil domestic violence restraining orders (DVRO) to other specified protective orders such as gun violence, civil harassment, workplace violence, and elder abuse restraining orders, along with orders issued during the pendency of criminal proceedings and after specified convictions.

SB 1019 (Blakespear) would require law enforcement agencies to destroy firearms subject to destruction under existing law in their entirety by smelting, shredding, crushing, or cutting all parts of the firearm, including any attachments. It also requires every law enforcement agency to develop and make available on its website a written policy regarding the destruction of firearms.

SB 1038 (Blakespear) would amend existing law to shorten the timeframe in which gun owners must report lost or stolen firearms from 5 days to 48 hours. It would also require the Department of Justice to inspect the 25 firearm dealer locations that are the source of the highest gross number of guns used in crimes in the previous year and that firearm dealers annually certify their inventory to the DOJ. 

Sentencing

SB 1001 (Skinner) would amend existing law to ensure that people who are diagnosed with an intellectual disability as adults are protected from capital punishment. Current CA law prohibits intellectually disabled defendants from being sentenced to death if mental health experts determine that their impairment manifested before the end of the developmental period. This bill clarifies that to mean that the deficits were present during the developmental period.

Victims

AB 1909 is sponsored by LADA and would clarify that in any felony or misdemeanor case where the defendant is granted diversion and the court orders restitution, the victim may enforce any unpaid restitution as a civil judgment upon the defendant’s successful completion of diversion. This is just as they could had the defendant completed probation, parole, mandatory supervision, post-release community supervision, or a term in local custody pursuant to Penal Code § 1170(h).

AB 1956 would require the State of California to allocate funds to prioritize continuity and stability of crime victim services when federal funding provide by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) is reduced by more than 10 percent of the amount awarded the prior year. AB 1956 would also require the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to regularly consult, collaborate with, and consider the recommendations regarding allocation of funding from the VOCA Steering Committee to ensure a consolidated and streamlined grant distribution process. VOCA provides funds for an array of critical services and programs, which include domestic violence service providers, Rape Crisis Centers, legal assistance, human trafficking services, services to address crime survivor homelessness, and other vital services. A reduction to California’s VOCA funding will have a detrimental impact on the ability of Los Angeles County’s provider network to provide domestic violence shelter/housing, legal and other services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Sponsored by LADA, AB 2907 would require a defendant subject to a 10-year protective order who owns a firearm to notify the court when they relinquish the firearm and provide proof of the required storage, sale, or relinquishment. If evidence of compliance of the firearms prohibition is not provided, the court shall immediately notify the prosecuting attorney and law enforcement so they can take all actions necessary to address the violation of the protective order as soon as practicable. AB 2907 will also better protect domestic violence victims by requiring the arresting officer in domestic violence cases to question the arrestee, victim, and other household members (if applicable) about any firearms owned or possessed by the arrestee and to check the Automated Firearm System (AFS) to determine whether the arrestee owns or possesses any firearms prior to presenting the case to the prosecuting attorney for filing.

For 2023 Legislative Letters, click here.