AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2026
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
96
Introduced by Assembly Member Ávila Farías
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan, Carrillo, Gipson, Jackson, Kalra, Lee, and Stefani)
January 26, 2026
An act to amend Sections Section 1029 and 1029.1 of the Government Code, relating to public employment.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: no Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law contains numerous provisions governing the qualifications, standards, and training of peace officers. Existing law specifies circumstances that disqualify a person from holding office or being employed as a peace officer, including, among other things, having been convicted of a felony. any person previously employed in law enforcement in any state or United States territory or by the federal government whose name is listed in any of specified indexes whose certification as a law enforcement officer in that jurisdiction was revoked for misconduct or who, while employed as a law enforcement officer, engaged in serious misconduct that would have resulted in their certification being revoked by the commission if
employed as a peace officer in this state.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to complete a background investigation, using as guidelines the standards defined by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, of any applicant for employment as a peace officer before the applicant may be employed or begin training as a peace officer.
This bill would require the background investigation completed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to also include an investigation of prior employment with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
By prohibiting local governments from employing persons as described above, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would specify that, for purposes of the disqualification circumstances described above, the terms “employed in law enforcement” and “law enforcement officer” include a law enforcement officer employed in any state or United States territory or by the federal government who engages in immigration enforcement, as provided.
The bill would make the provisions of the act severable.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Beginning in 2025, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have terrorized California residents, United States citizens and noncitizens alike, through untargeted arrests and brutality based on nothing more than a person’s racial appearance, language spoken, means of earning a living, or exercise of First Amendment-protected expression.
(b) Beginning in 2025, the United States Department of Homeland Security has recruited peace officers to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the promise of being unrestrained in the manner in which officers engage with civilians or by the laws of the State of California.
(c) Participating in the operations of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on or after January 20, 2025, demonstrates an immorality that California cannot afford to have in its ranks of peace officers whose duties include interacting with the public.
(d) Particularly over the past 35 years, California state and local law enforcement agencies have made great strides in community relations, professionalism, and accountability. While that improvement has generally resulted in greater public trust in California state and local law enforcement, that trust is fragile. To maintain that trust, the public must be assured that California’s state and local law enforcement agencies are staffed by trained, professional, and moral officers, and not infected by the culture of racism and brutality that currently defines United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
(e) Ensuring that peace officers are of sound mind and not likely to engage in racial profiling or brutalization is a matter of statewide concern.
SEC. 2.
Section 1029 of the Government Code is amended to read:
1029.
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), (c), (d), or (e), or (g), each of the following persons is disqualified from holding office as a peace officer or being employed as a peace officer of the state, county, city, city and county, or other political subdivision, whether with or without compensation, and is disqualified from any office or employment by the state, county, city, city and county, or other political subdivision, whether with or without compensation, which confers upon the holder or employee the powers and duties of a peace officer:
(1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony.
(2) Any person who has been convicted of any offense in any other jurisdiction which would have been a felony if committed in this state.
(3) Any person who has been discharged from the military for committing an offense, as adjudicated by a military tribunal, which would have been a felony if committed in this state.
(4) (A) Any person who, after January 1, 2004, has been convicted of a crime based upon a verdict or finding of guilt of a felony by the trier of fact, or upon the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony. This paragraph applies regardless of whether, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 17 of the Penal Code, the court declares the offense to be a misdemeanor, or the offense becomes a misdemeanor by operation of law.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, a person has been “convicted of a crime” immediately upon entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, or upon being found guilty by a trier of fact of, a felony offense, including an offense that may be charged as a misdemeanor or felony and that was charged as a felony at the time of the conviction.
(C) Effective January 1, 2022, any person who has been convicted of a crime in accordance with this paragraph shall not regain eligibility for peace officer employment based upon the nature of any sentence ordered or imposed. In addition, no such person shall regain eligibility for peace officer employment based upon any later order of the court setting aside, vacating, withdrawing, expunging or otherwise dismissing or reversing the conviction, unless the court finds the person to be factually innocent of the crime for which they were convicted at the time of entry of the order.
(5) Any person who has been charged with a felony and adjudged by a superior court to be mentally incompetent under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.
(6) Any person who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of any felony.
(7) Any person who has been determined to be a mentally disordered sex offender pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(8) Any person adjudged addicted or in danger of becoming addicted to narcotics, convicted, and committed to a state institution as provided in Section 3051 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(9) Any person who, following exhaustion of all available appeals, has been convicted of, or adjudicated through an administrative, military, or civil judicial process requiring not less than clear and convincing evidence, including a hearing that meets the requirements of the administrative adjudication provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2), as having committed, any act that is a violation of Section 115, 115.3, 116, 116.5, or 117 of, or of any offense described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 92), Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 118), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 132), or Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 142) of Title 7 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, including any act committed in another jurisdiction that would have been a violation of any of those sections if committed in this state.
(10) Any person who has been issued the certification described in Section 13510.1 of the Penal Code and has had that certification revoked by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training has voluntarily surrendered that certification pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 13510.8, or, having met the minimum requirement for issuance of certification, has been denied issuance of certification.
(11) (A) Any person previously employed in law enforcement in any state or United States territory or by the federal government, whose name is listed in the National Decertification Index of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training or any other database designated by the federal government whose certification as a law enforcement officer in that jurisdiction was revoked for misconduct, or who, while employed as a law enforcement officer, engaged in serious misconduct that would have resulted in their certification being revoked by the commission if employed as a peace officer in this state.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, both of the following apply:
(i) “Employed in law enforcement” and “law enforcement officer” include a law enforcement officer employed in any state or United States territory or by the federal government who engages in immigration enforcement.
(ii) “Immigration enforcement” includes any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law, and also includes any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person’s presence in, entry, or reentry to, or employment in, the United States.
(b) (1) A plea of guilty to a felony pursuant to a deferred entry of judgment program as set forth in Sections 1000 to 1000.4, inclusive, of the Penal Code shall not alone disqualify a person from being a peace officer unless a judgment of guilty is entered pursuant to Section 1000.3 of the Penal Code.
(2) A person who pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or who is found guilty by a trier of fact of, an alternate felony-misdemeanor drug possession offense and successfully completes a program of probation pursuant to Section 1210.1 of the Penal Code shall not be disqualified from being a peace officer solely on the basis of the plea or finding if the court deems the offense to be a misdemeanor or reduces the offense to a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who has been convicted of a felony, other than a felony punishable by death, in this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of any offense in any other state which would have been a felony, other than a felony punishable by death, if committed in this state, and who demonstrates the ability to assist persons in programs of rehabilitation may hold office and be employed as a parole officer of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the Division of Juvenile Justice, or as a probation officer in a county probation department, if the person has been granted a full and unconditional pardon for the felony or offense of which they were convicted. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the Division of Juvenile Justice, or a county probation department, may refuse to employ that person regardless of their qualifications.
(d) This section does not limit or curtail the power or authority of any board of police commissioners, chief of police, sheriff, mayor, or other appointing authority to appoint, employ, or deputize any person as a peace officer in time of disaster caused by flood, fire, pestilence or similar public calamity, or to exercise any power conferred by law to summon assistance in making arrests or preventing the commission of any criminal offense.
(e) This section does not prohibit any person from holding office or being employed as a superintendent, supervisor, or employee having custodial responsibilities in an institution operated by a probation department, if at the time of the person’s hire a prior conviction of a felony was known to the person’s employer, and the class of office for which the person was hired was not declared by law to be a class prohibited to persons convicted of a felony, but as a result of a change in classification, as provided by law, the new classification would prohibit employment of a person convicted of a felony.
(f) The Department of Justice shall supply the commission with necessary disqualifying felony and misdemeanor conviction data for all persons known by the department to be current or former peace officers. The commission shall be permitted to use the information for decertification purposes. The data, once received by the commission, shall be made available for public inspection pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1), including documentation of the person’s appointment, promotion, and demotion dates, as well as certification or licensing status and the reason or disposition for the person leaving service.
Section 1029.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
1029.1.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall complete a background investigation, using as guidelines standards defined by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and an investigation of any previous employment described in paragraph (12) of subdivision (a) of Section 1029, of any applicant for employment as a peace officer before the applicant may be employed or begin training as a peace officer. In order to reduce potential duplication of effort by individual institutions, investigations shall be accomplished on a centralized or regional basis to the extent administratively feasible.
SEC. 4.SEC. 3.
The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 5.SEC. 4.
The Legislature finds and declares that Sections Section 2 and 3 of this act amending Sections Section 1029 and 1029.1
of the Government Code address
addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Sections
Section 2 and 3 of this act apply applies to all cities, including charter cities.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.